Cat Scratch Fever
by aubzdall
Summary: Helga has stumbled upon some very dangerous knowledge, that puts a target on her back and pulls Arnold into a tangled plot. Rated M for language and sexual content.
1. Chapter 1

Helga felt her heart pounding, practically trying to leap from her chest. She thought she'd lost the guys chasing her, but she kept running anyway. The designs from her employer's art department were still slung in a canister over her back, forgotten like the white flats she had been wearing before she kicked them off, allowing herself to run faster.

"_This is _so_ not worth ten-fifty an hour."_ she thought to herself as she sprinted. Helga was working part time at an advertising agency as a secretary and messenger to get through college. At least that was the case most of the year. It was currently the middle of summer and she wasn't going to be taking anymore classes until the spring semester of next year. It wasn't that she wasn't motivated enough to finish getting her degree, but she needed to save up more money to get it.

More gunshots fired behind her and Helga did her best to not scream as she pressed her body harder. For once she was glad that she'd forced herself to make time for the gym in her busy life.

She screamed and threw her hands up in the air as a large man cut off her path, shining a bright flashlight in her face.

"Please! I didn't see anything, I swear!" she screamed, terror in her voice.

A gun cocked behind her as her persuers came to a stop behind her. Helga breathed heavily and searched for an escape route.

"She's pretty." One of the men chasing her panted.

"Don't even think about it." Another one, with a deeper voice, ordered bluntly. "Boss's orders. We take care of her or they take care of us."

"Well why do we always have to just do what he tells us without even asking any stupid questions?"

Now was her chance. Helga broke into a sprint, ignoring the shouts of protests as she leaped off the edge of the cliff. The fall to the ravine below went slower than she imagined it would. A gun shot and landed a bullet in her shoulder. She yelped out in pain, but was silent the second she hit the water.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

One of the men, a large black man with a shaved head and meaty fingers, glared at her body, which had washed up on the rocky shore farther up the river. "Well she's dead. Our work is done."

"Shouldn't we dispose of the body?" The smaller white man asked nervously.

"No one comes to this area of the river. The body has already been disposed." The black man turned on his heel and headed back for his car, his associate trailing behind him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold stared out his window as his plane landed. He'd been in San Lorenzo with his parents since he'd finished high school. He built houses, climbed mountains, learned all about the plants and animals in the area, and much more.

He always said he'd come back home, but he never expected it would take Gerald and Phoebe's wedding to get him out of the actual jungle and back into the urban one.

He stared at his old home below and suddenly realized how excited he was. Especially when it came to the fact that he'd get to see Helga again. He only hoped she would be as excited to see him.

**Be sure to review and let me know what you think. Next chapter's gunna be a lot longer, I promise. This is more of a teaser/prologue than an actual chapter. Be sure to stay tuned though. Not to toot my own horn, but it's gunna be boss. **


	2. Chapter 2

The sun bore into Helga's apartment, forcing her eyes open, despite how much Helga willed her eyes to stay shut, they eventually opened. She stared at the ceiling above her head for a second before rolling out of her white down comforter and onto her feet.

Helga paused for a second, looking at her bed, which hadn't been slept in, then down to the balled up comforter on the floor. She rubbed her neck and shrugged before moving out of the bedroom and into the living room. She walked into the bathroom, yawning and stretching her arms over her head and sharply throwing her head towards her shoulder, resulting in a loud and refreshing crack. She brushed her teeth and flossed before making her way to the kitchen, working a brush through her hair.

The brush caught on something and she tucked the brush under her arm to examine her tresses. She pulled out a large and mossy twig and wrinkled her nose at it. "Hm. That's weird."

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going when her heel was pierced by shattered glass.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, hopping onto her other foot to yank the glass out of her foot. She looked at the rest of the glass on the floor and her mouth feel open. "What the hell." She said softly to herself. Her window was shattered from the outside in. She got to work sweeping up the mess before she made her way to the pile of drenched clothes that nestled in the middle of the army of broken glass. She picked up the first article of clothing, recognizing it as the jacket to her gray pinstripe pantsuit. It was beyond repair now. She glared at the jacket. It had been her favorite work piece.

She was pulled from her thoughts when her house phone rang. Trying to hide how frazzled she was becoming, Helga picked up the cordless phone and answered it on the way back to the wet pile of clothes. " Helga Pataki, make it snappy." She answered shortly. _'Ha. That rhymed. Good one Helga, ole girl.'_

"_Helga, it's Phoebe." _

"Hey Pheebs." Helga's tone wasn't annoyed anymore, but still rushed. She didn't really want to talk to Phoebe, or anyone at the moment. Not until she figured out what the hell had happened the night before, and why she couldn't remember it. "I'm kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you back?"

"_Helga, I've been trying to call you all morning. Why did you turn your cell phone off?"_

As if to answer Phoebe's question, Helga's smartphone tumbled out of her jacket pocket, drenched and ruined. Helga glared at it. "Yeah, my cell's gone through some water damage." _"Apparently."_ she mentally added to herself.

"_Well your boss has been trying to get in touch with you. Something about delivering designs last night. Why doesn't he have your house number?"_

"Because it's my personal number, Pheebs." Helga answered shortly. "Look, I'll go into the office later or something. I've got other things to deal with right now."

"_Helga, do you need me to come over?"_

Helga rolled her eyes, "No, Phoebe, I don't want you to come over. You have too much wedding stuff to do anyway. I'm fine. I'll see you later."

"_You mean tonight."_ Phoebe corrected her friend.

"What?"

"_Arnold got into town last night. We're all going out to dinner, remember?"_

Helga's heart stopped. How could she have forgotten. "Yeah, yeah I'll see you tonight." Helga disconnected the call before Phoebe could and tossed it onto her couch. Her apartment wasn't anything fancy. It was pretty plain, but the roofs didn't leak and the only thing she could really complain about were her noisy neighbors and peeling paint. It was the only thing Bob had been willing to help her out with while she was going to college.

She went through the rest of her wet clothes, hoping that maybe she'd be able to find any answers about the night before. To her dismay, she found nothing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga did everything in her power to not bellow back at her boss as she simply explained that she really had no idea what had happened to the designs and then explained that she couldn't remember anything that had happened the day before.

Mister Raydon finally managed to yell himself out and sighed, falling into his chair behind his desk. "Helga, you're a great employee. The best secretary I've ever had. The last thing I want to do is give you the boot."

Helga's gaze dropped, "I understand , sir."

Mister Raydon sighed, "I'm going to suspend you for two weeks."

Helga looked up at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. "You mean…you're not firing me?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No. We're just lucky we have copies of the designs. But anything like this ever happens again."

"It won't!" She answered hastily. "Thank you! Thank you _so_ much!"

Mister Raydon chuckled and shook his head, "You're going to have to leave the building now. I'll see you after your friend's wedding."

Helga thanked him a few more times before skipping out of the building, waving goodbye to Tom and Whitney, the only two people she worked with that she really got along with. Tom was flamboyantly gay and an absolute riot. Whitney was sassy and flirty, despite the fact that she wasn't the typical vision of beauty. Whitney was content with it though, constantly saying 'a guy is more likely to sing Fat Bottom Girls to me than any other song ever written, but I'm good with that. No one writes songs about 'wanting the skinny bitches"…no offense, Helga'.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Back at her apartment, Helga was finishing getting ready for dinner, her hair hanging around her shoulders in curls. She wore a little black dress that clung to her curves. She probably didn't need the pink bolero she slipped over the top of the dress with as warm as it was out, but she'd already decided that she needed a pop of color.

Scratching against wood caught her attention and Helga first went to the door, looking down and around and finding nothing and no one who could be responsible for it. She then went to the board she'd placed in front of her shattered window. On the other side of the whole window, a silky black cat with bright yellow eyes stared back at her.

Her eyes locked with its and she inched closer to the window. The cat mewed and she cocked her head to the side at it.

She could have stared at the animal for hours, but more scratching caught her attention. Helga focused her eyes and found everything was so much more clear than it had been before, even the shadows of the room were illuminated.

Then she saw it. In the blink of an eye, she'd shot across the living room and into the kitchen, where she reached under the bar and batted and scraped like a maniac until she had it in her hands.

She grinned, almost manically as she stood upright, a mouse held tightly in her fist. With a giggle she dropped the mouse on the floor and chased after it when it ran again. She caught it and released it a few more times before a knock on the door brought her to her senses. The mouse was trembling in her grasp. She screamed and dropped the mouse before rushing to the sink and washing her hands, fully aware of the plethora of diseases mice could carry.

There was another knock at the door.

"JUST A MINUTE!" she shouted as she dried her hands and opened the door. Her face softened instantly. "Arnold?"

He smiled, "Hey Helga. I was just wondering if I could give you a ride to dinner."

She smiled weakly. They'd become pretty good friends after Arnold found his parents and they maintained their relationship through letters. They'd never done anything romantically besides letters though, to Helga's dismay. "Yeah, sure. I'm already ready. Just let me grab my purse."

She slipped back into her apartment and seized her bag, giving the window a last glance before leaving on Arnold's arm. She'd hoped the cat she'd seen earlier would still be there, but the only thing on the other side of her window was her fire escape.

**Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think will happen or what you want to happen or whatever. Thanks for reading. **

**P.S. I think it's pretty obvious where this is going (so far), but it's gunna get more complex. I promise. **


	3. Chapter 3

Helga didn't know what had gotten into her, but when the sushi arrived, she dug into the raw fish as if she hadn't eaten the entire day. Gerald, Phoebe, and Arnold all gave her curious expressions as roll after roll vanished down her throat. She didn't stop until Gerald piped up and said, "Damn Pataki, I never realized you liked sushi so much."

She stopped midbite, a strip of skinned salmon still hanging from her mouth. She slurped it down her throat and chuckled nervously. "Sorry. I haven't eaten all day." She said quickly, hoping the lie would be enough to cover it up.

"You know that really isn't healthy, Helga." Phoebe chided gently.

Helga's eyes narrowed. "Well sometimes life is a little nutty and you can't always make the time to eat three meals a day."

"Did you talk to your boss?" Phoebe had decided to ask the question before she completely forgot about it.

Helga shrugged, "Yeah, I'm suspended for two weeks. No big deal."

"Pataki, what on earth did you do to get yourself suspended?" Gerald asked playfully. Since he and Phoebe had started dating Helga and Gerald always had a silent truce going on. Eventually that truce turned into an actual friendship.

Helga shrugged, "I'd tell ya if I knew, Gerald-o."

"You mean they suspended you for no reason?" Arnold asked, sounding concerned now.

"No, they had a reason for suspending me, I just don't remember doing what I did, or didn't do." Helga admitted, trying to hide how confused she was about the situation herself.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Were you drinking yesterday?"

Helga gripped her fork, her knuckles turning white with the strain to keep from snapping at her friend. "No, Phoebe. I was _not_ drinking. I'm not Miriam. And even if was, I haven't blacked out since Rhonda's party freshman year."

Arnold laughed, "Now that was a fun night. Especially when you took off your shirt and started swinging on the chandelier. OW!"

Helga's fist was still clenched after striking him in the arm. "I don't remember it so it never happened."

Arnold smiled and stared at her, eyes half lidded, "Whatever you say, Helga."

Helga smiled and was about to give him a witty reply when she spotted a familiar face. Her eyes focused on him from across the room, observing all of his features. The more she focused, the more she found that she was actually able to _hear_ him.

"Yeah, the shipment just got in last night. Had to…take care of something that got in the way, but everything will be ready before anyone knows it." He said to his companion. She could only see the back of his head.

She shook her head and images and sounds came rushing back.

"_She's pretty." _

"_We take care of her or they take care of us."_

The memory of a gun firing and a sharp pain in her shoulder brought her back into reality.

"Helga?" Phoebe said for the third time. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

Helga blinked a few times. "What?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes, " I asked you if your parents had responded to the RSVP."

"Oh. No, they haven't, but they won't come. They're in Australia with Olga for a few months. It's probably for the best. Miriam would drown in the open bar and Bob would ruin everything so it's not like you're missing out on anything."

Phoebe tried to not laugh at Helga's honesty. "You're probably right."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gerald elbowed Arnold once they stepped out onto the street. "Walk her home, man." He said quietly.

Arnold gave Gerald a questioning look before glancing and Helga and Phoebe, who were talking a few feet ahead of them. "I'm just so nervous, Gerald. I mean, who's to say she'll even feel anything?"

"Man, you've been head over heels for that girl since you dragged the whole gang to South America to find your parents." Gerald laughed.

Arnold shushed his friend, his cheeks turning red, "She might hear you!"

"So what, man? Phoebe had to hear me eventually and look at us now! Gettin' married in two weeks. So go get her." Gerald winked

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Are you certain you're alright, Helga?" Phoebe asked cautiously, trying to keep Helga's attention. It didn't seem to be working out so well. Helga's eyes were darting around on the sidewalk. She reminded Phoebe of a cat stalking a laser.

Helga couldn't help that her focus was so lax. Why did she find the beetle flitting around on the sidewalk so fascinating anyway? It wasn't like she was Nadine. Still, Helga couldn't keep her eyes off it and was ready to jump on it at any second. "Yeah, Pheebs, I'm fine, just a little distracted is all."

"Um…Helga, what're you looking at?" Phoebe asked, trying to force her way into Helga's line of sight.

When Phoebe blocked the bug from her view, Helga snapped out of it. She shook her head before replying, "Oh, um….I don't know."

Phoebe looked worried, "Helga, do you want Gerald and me to take you home?"

"Arnold can take her!" Gerald exclaimed, shoving Arnold forward. Arnold stumbled into Helga and they had to hold onto each other to keep from falling over. Gerald wrapped and arm around Phoebe's waist and pulled her in close to him. "Besides, I wanna go home and…get my girl to bed."

Phoebe giggled uncontrollably. "Oh Gerald, you're so bad!"

Helga rolled her eyes, "Oh puh-_lease_. Get a room."

"Oh we plan to." Gerald said suggestively.

Arnold wrapped an arm around Helga's shoulder and started leading her away, "We'll see you guys later."

Helga laughed lightly as Arnold rushed them away from Gerald and Phoebe. Arnold looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"My apartment is the other way." She giggled.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga yanked Arnold into her apartment and slammed the door behind them just before a whiskey bottle shattered against her door. Helga laughed lightly at Arnold's shocked expression. "He seems pleasant."

"Oh yeah, he's the best." Helga replied sarcastically as she flipped on her light switch.

The same black cat that had been on Helga's fire escape was waiting for her on the island separating her kitchen from the living room. "Hey!" She exclaimed at the animal.

"I didn't know you had a cat." Arnold extended his hand to pet the animal, but retracted it quickly when the feline hissed and raked the air with unsheathed claws.

"Yeah, I just got it." Helga answered, trying to not show her annoyance at it. She cautiously reached out to pick the cat up and to her surprise, the animal let her. It purred and nuzzled her chin affectionately before she put it on the floor, watching it scamper off and curl up on the back of her sofa. She twisted a lock of hair around her finger, "So…do you wanna watch a movie or something? If we go out again Mr. Watts will just keep yelling and throwing bottles."

Arnold laughed lightly, "Yeah, we can watch a movie. Anything particular in mind?"

"Something light." Came the answer. "Like a comedy or a cartoon or something. Other than that I'm not picky. I'm gunna go put on something more comfy. I think I have a pair of pajama pants you could borrow if you wanted."

Arnold smirked. "No thanks. They're probably pink with bunnies on them."

Helga shook her head, trying to purse back the smirk on her face, "They're green and flannel."

"Sure. As long as they aren't pink."

Helga shook her head and locked herself in her bedroom, shedding her dress after collecting a worn out Flogging Molly shirt and a pair of black yoga pants.

Once her dress was off, she stared long and hard in the mirror, examining her shoulder from the front, back, and every angle between. There was no wound, no scar, not even a scratch. Had she just…imagined what she remembered at the restaurant?

With a sigh, she finished getting dressed and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, grabbing the flannel green pajama pants she'd been talking about earlier before effortlessly jumping over the back of the couch, landing with her legs crossed next to Arnold. He jumped with surprise, before asking how she'd snuck up on him so quietly. She only shrugged.

Arnold had decided to put in The Hangover. Helga had to applaud his choice.

When the cat's body melted against her leg, she saw the feline curled into a ball on its back. She gave it a curious look and scratched under its chin. She could worry about the cat tomorrow. Now, she was going to focus her attention on Arnold. She wasn't sure if she was focusing on telling him about her feelings (again) or keeping those feelings reeled in.

Like so many other things, she decided to worry about it tomorrow. Tonight. Tonight she could enjoy.

**Thanks for reading friends. Be sure to review. Love ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

_Everything was dark. Helga could feel herself slipping away. She was slipping from her toes, fingers, arms, legs. She was slipping from everywhere. She was nothing, suspended in nothing, surrounded in nothing, engulfed in nothing. Only fear remained. If she had eyes she would have cried. If she had lungs she would have screamed. But there was nothing left. Not even her._

_Then, bits and pieces started to feel again. There was an ache in her back. Her body stung all over. Something was securely planted on her chest. It wasn't heavy, but it was annoying. Something sharp gnawed at her fingers and things kept crawling around on top of her. She had no idea what it was, but next she began feeling sick. _

_Her eyes fluttered and she could hear something pounding deafeningly. Through the beat, she could hear rushing water and padded feet fleeting around her. _

_Finally, the pounding slowed and her eyes shot open. _

_A pair of big yellow eyes framed in black fur was the first thing she saw. _

_She was wet, and she hated that. The black cat jumped off of her chest and Helga rolled onto her side, noting the pebbles she was laying on. She was drenched, her clothes and hair clinging to her skin. Luminous eyes surrounded her, all staring intently at her. Some were gray, tabby, orange, fat, skinny, long-haired, short-haired, and everything in between. _

_She moved her arm under her and pushed herself up onto her feet. She lumbered about for a moment before she got used to her new ears and eyes. Everything was so much more clear. She could see and smell EVERYTHING. She was full of energy. Her body was more limber than it had ever been before. She stared up at the wall of rock that cradled the ravine. She crouched down and the plethora of cats around her purred and rubbed against her legs and hands. She petted some of them and even found herself purring back before she commanded her body to jump. Helga wasn't sure how she knew that she would be able to jump about seven times her height, but she landed the jump effortlessly. She perched on the protruding rock and scoped out her next perch. In a matter of minutes, she had scaled the wall of rock and was just off the road where she had jumped just hours before. Her eyes narrowed at the lone shining industrial building standing in the distance. The shining Teog building made her more angry than she'd ever been. _

_Teog thought that they could kill her. She would kill them. All in good time._

_She started the long walk back into the city, paying no mind to her bare feet, not surprised in the slightest that nothing seemed to bother her feet. Occasionally someone would see her walking towards her apartment and they'd ask if she was alright. Most of the time she would just ignore them and keep walking. Once a man had grabbed her arm and tried to stop her. She ended up effortlessly shoving him into the street before continuing her walk. _

_When she reached her building, she only stared up at the window she knew to be hers. Like on the cliff, she crouched over for the pounce. She flew up and landed effortlessly on the railing of the fire escape, balancing expertly before crawling forward and staring into her apartment. Without a second though, she reeled her fist back and watched as the window shattered. Stepping inside, she tore off her clothes and rubbed her hair against a towel to dry it. _

_Once she was in her pajamas, she yanked her comforter off the bed and balled it up on the floor before curling up and drifting off to sleep. She'd find some way to get justice for her murder. It wouldn't be too hard. After all, she did have eight lives left._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga woke with a start, surprised to find herself curled up next to Arnold, who's legs were stretched out and entwined with hers. The television was still on, screen fuzzy and white. She reached over Arnold, being careful to not wake him, and picked up the remote and shut the television off.

Arnold's hand caught her wrist as she withdrew it. "Helga." He muttered sleepily.

Her heart stopped when he said her name. "I'm sorry." She was about to apologize for waking him when his hands began raking her hair.

"You're so beautiful." He said, a trace of a smile on his face.

She sat up a little bit to get a good look at his face. He was still sound asleep, toying with her hair with one hand and stroking her arm with the other. She swallowed a lump in her throat and found herself trembling.

"I wish I could tell you." He whispered.

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Tell me what?"

Arnold didn't answer. Instead, his hand was securely placed at the base of her neck and he pulled her forward sharply.

Helga's heart stopped at first, then it hammered uncontrollably in her chest. For a while, she stood tensely against his mouth, but eventually she melted into his embrace and into his kisses.

When he stopped, she felt a pang of disappointment in her chest. His embrace tightened and she managed to smile, nestling back into his arms. She blinked a few times and she saw the black cat staring at them from the other side of the couch, silky black fur gleaming in the moonightl and yellow eyes shining. The way the cat looked at her was unnerving. She swallowed a lump in her throat. Come morning, she'd find out where the cat had come from.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold opened his eyes lazily, his nostrils filling with the smell of eggs and bacon. He looked down and found that Helga wasn't curled up next to him like she had been when she fell asleep halfway through the movie. He slowly sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, football head." Helga said as she shoveled some eggs and bacon onto a plate. "Well, afternoon I guess."

"What time is it?" Arnold yawned.

"Almost one." she answered handing him the plate.

"Thanks." Arnold said as he took the plate and scooted into an upright position.

"You may wanna look at your phone. It's been buzzing like crazy for the past hour. Gerald-o probably thinks you got lucky." She smirked before vanishing into her room to change.

Arnold looked at his phone and to his surprise, he found four missed calls and a plethora of text messages from Gerald.

**Yo, man, where you at? We were supposed to get breakfast, remember?**

**Your grandpa says you didn't even get home last night. Seriously man call me back, what the hell!**

**You slept over at Helga's didn't you?**

**Oh my god you slept over at Helga's! I'm so proud of you man! You finally told her how you feel and my man got NASTY!**

Arnold found his cheeks turning red as he read the text messages. Gerald would probably be disappointed when Arnold told him what actually happened. Arnold wasn't though. He had fallen asleep with Helga in his arms and woken up with her in the next room.

**Sorry Gerald. I just woke up. You'll be upset to hear this, but I didn't tell Helga and we didn't have sex.**

Arnold got up and stretched and in a matter of moments, he had received another message from Gerald.

**Are you kidding me man? You sleep at the girl's house yet during all this time it never occurs to you that it would be a good time to tell her? You are in serious trouble dude. Anyway, you'd better get out of there. We need to get our tuxs fitted today or Phoebe will explode. My girl is a little kooky when it comes to wedding stuff.**

Arnold tossed his phone aside and gathered his clothes. Before he could head for the bathroom, Helga emerged from her room dressed in dark jeans, black ballet flats, and a pink silk top that flowed off her shoulder, her cat tucked away under her arm. He smiled at her and she smiled right back.

"Gerald's throwing a fit about getting our tuxedos fitted so I guess I'd better go." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Eh, that's alright. I gotta go see where this this molly came from." She held the cat up and scratched under its chin. "Think you can show yourself out?"

Arnold nodded. "Yeah. You wanna do something later tonight if we have time?"

Helga shrugged, "Sure, why not? I'll pick up a new phone and text you later, kay?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga found the address on the cat's collar. It was a random tiny house between two large apartment buildings. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she knocked on the door, ignoring the cat, whose name was Shadow, as it climbed out of her arms and onto her shoulders.

The woman who answered the door looked like she was in her late forties with frizzy auburn hair, graying at the roots. She wore a green sweater that was at least two sizes to large on her, blue eyes with dark circles under them staring blankly at the cat on Helga's shoulders.

"Why Shadow, you've brought someone home. It's been quite some time." The woman's voice was dazed, almost dreamy. "Well come in, dear." The woman turned around and walked back into her house.

Helga just stared after the woman before taking Shadow off her shoulders and holding the cat out. "Ma'am, I found your cat and I just wanted to return it."

The woman turned around and narrowed her eyes at Helga. "It's rude to linger in doorways. Shadow brought you here for a reason. Aren't you the slightest curious as to what that reason is?"

Helga looked at the cat before it jumped out of her arms and followed the woman. She swallowed a lump in her throat before following the woman inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Helga fidgeted nervously in her seat upon the green velvet sofa while her hostess bustled away preparing tea in the kitchen. The woman's living room must have taken up the majority of the house. It was massive, lined with books and antiques.

What really made Helga nervous, though, were all the cats. There were dozens of them! Shadow stayed close, curled up in Helga's lap. The rest of the felines abandoned their self-appointed tasks of sleeping or playing to gather around Helga, rubbing against her legs and nuzzling the back of her head. It was pretty creepy, but she chose to wait.

The woman, whose name was Mona, returned to the living room with a tray of tea.

"You must have a lot of questions." Mona started.

"Well now I do." Helga muttered, glancing at the cats crowding her.

Mona smiled. "You are the first in my generation. The last was when I was a young girl."

Helga raised an eyebrow, "Um…what?"

"What happened to you two nights ago?" Mona asked, not looking up as she poured the tea, not looking up at Helga. "That's when Shadow went missing. That must be when you died."

Helga's mouth fell open, "What? I didn't die. I'm right here! Are you missing some screws up top, lady?"

Mona smiled slightly, "What happened two nights ago?"

Helga nervously scratched the back of her neck. "I…uh…I honestly don't remember."

"That's because you died." Mona said gently.

"But I'm right-"

Mona cut Helga off before she could get much farther. "I know you're here. You have a pulse, you're breathing, blood is rushing through your veins. I understand, dear, but that doesn't negate your death."

Helga looked confused, "So if I died, then how am I here?"

"Shadow gave you a gift." Mona handed Helga a cup of tea. Helga accepted it, still looking skeptical. "You lost one life. She gave you eight more."

Helga placed the tea in her lap and gave Mona a disbelieving look, "So what you're saying is that I'm some magic cat woman now or something like that?"

Mona smiled coyly. "Something like that. Drink your tea, child."

Helga rolled her eyes, but took a sip of her tea. Helga hated tea.

Or…so she thought.

Unaware of what she was doing, Helga swallowed the entire cup of tea in one gulp. She carelessly wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Holy hell, what kind of tea is this?" Helga asked.

Mona picked up the blue teapot, "Would you like some more child?"

"Yes, please!" Helga zealously held out her cup. Mona filled it and in no time at all, Helga had finished off another. Helga lunged for the teapot and poured herself another cup. Once she finished her third cup she asked again, "Seriouslly, what kind of tea _is _this! It's like…drugs but healthy!"

"That's catnip tea, dear." Mona said, a slight smile upon her face.

Realization flooded Helga's face and the teacup slipped from her hands, shattering on the floor at her feet. "I'm so sorry!" She knelt down to clean up the mess, doing her best to ignore the cats that were swarming around her.

Mona put a hand on Helga's shoulder, "Leave it. There's still a lot for you to learn."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So what you're saying is that if Shadow hadn't done…whatever the hell it was she did." Helga began.

"She breathed life into you." Mona corrected, annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Helga continued, "If Shadow hadn't done that thing then I'd still be dead at the bottom of a river by now?"

Mona nodded, her focus on digging through a closet, searching for something. "That's right."

"And she brought me back because my life is going to alter thousands of lives."

"Yes." Mona said, seizing the box and wiping dust off of it.

"And your family has been the keeper of this cat since the dawn of cats pretty much." Helga still didn't sound convinced.

Mona held the box to her chest and glared at Helga, "If I have to kill you again to prove it to you then I will."

"What's that?" Helga nodded in the box's direction.

"Secrecy is going to be your biggest ally." Mona opened the box and handed it to Helga.

Helga looked inside and her brow furrowed. "Black spandex?"

Mona laughed, "I'm sure you could do better if you tried."

Then Helga saw the mask. It was shiny black leather with cat ears and it would cover the entire upper half of her face. "This is pretty boss…can I try it on?"

"Of course, it's yours now." Mona said with a smile.

Helga took the mast and ran to the mirror with it. When she slipped it on over her head, she found it covered all of her hair, but it wasn't confining around her eyes. She smiled before taking the mask off. "This could be fun."

"It's not all about fun, Helga." Mona said sternly. "Remember, you have to find out what's going on at this Teog place, what you saw that was worth them killing you for, and how to stop them."

Helga nodded, "Yeah. I'll get right to it. After I figure out something else to wear with this." Helga took the mast off and played with her hair until it wasn't flat anymore.

"And don't forget to contact me if there's any trouble." Mona added.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga didn't bother with going to pick up a new phone. Instead, she took her fresh knowledge and spandex costume straight home. The first thing she did when she got home was throw the mass of spandex on her bed. She considered burning it, but decided to keep it, for now at least. She took the mask from the folds of fabric and made her way to her closet. She started throwing articles of clothing out of her closet and onto her bed.

It was starting to look like she'd be stuck with the tacky spandex number.

Just then, her phone rang.

She rushed out of her bedroom and into the living room where she jumped on the sofa and answered the phone. "You've reached Helga."

"_Hey Helga."_

The voice on the other end was Arnold's.

"Hey Arnold." she replied, laughing slightly. She started coiling a hair around her hand nervously. She hadn't forgotten about how he'd kissed her the night before. Granted, he was sleeping and probably didn't remember it, but it had still happened.

"_Uh…well you never called or texted me or anything so I was just wondering if we were still on for tonight."_

Helga's heart stopped. She felt stupid for having forgotten, but there was so much chaos going on. Toeg could wait another night. "Yeah! Yeah of course we are. Um, would it be ok if we just met at a restraunt or something? I've got some really random crap I have to do."

"_Sure. Is Chez Paris_ _at six good?"_

Helga smirked, remembering two very interesting experiences they'd had at the Chez Paris. Once she had ended up washing dishes with Phoebe, Gerald, and Arnold because she'd mixed up the names of the restaurants. The other time she had been 'Cecile' and given Arnold 'the best valentines day ever'. Thinking back, she wondered if he knew it had been her. Well, there wasn't any harm in him knowing now. In fact, he'd probably think it was funny. "Yeah, Chez Paris at six is great."

"_Alright, great! I'll see you there." _Arnold sounded enthusiastic.

With a smirk, Helga said, "Au revoir, Arnold."

"_Hey…wait a second." _

"Goodbye goodbye goodbye!" Helga blared into the phone, laughing before ending the call and returning to her dig through the closet.

She'd taken all of her clothes out and found herself growing irritated. That was until she found the box of Halloween costumes she'd used in the past. With a grin, she ripped the box away and threw it on her bed.

Another box, however, managed to catch her attention as well. It was a plain box with '**OLGA'S AUSTRAILA CRAP**' written on the top of it. Helga took the box out and dropped it on the floor, crossing her legs and opening the box to see what was inside. It had been a long time since Helga had visited her sister in Australia with their parents. Helga had wanted to just explore Sydney for the two weeks that they were there, but Olga wasn't having it. Her older sister insisted that the family did all the tourist stuff. Helga had held a koala, petted a kangaroo (and almost got kicked into a dirty pond by one too), had almost mastered throwing a boomerang, and nearly had her leg bitten off by a crocodile. However, the thing that caught her attention was the long-forgotten whip Olga had insisted on buying for her. _"I know you must have a much more wild sex life than I do, baby sister. Maybe it'll come in handy one day." _Olga had said jokingly.

Before, the whip was just a joke between sisters, but now it looked more like a toy. Helga unwound the seven-foot long coil of black leather and tried to recall the technic the old man back in Australia had taught her. She focused on the lamp on her bedside table and with a flick of her wrist and a loud crack, the lamp was on the floor and the whip lax in her grip. She smiled and wrapped the whip around her waist before digging into her Halloween box. She remembered being batgirl once. She pulled the black leather catsuit out of the box and smiled. "A few alterations, and this just might work."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"That's the guy!"

"Huh?" Arnold turned around, but it was too late. Three big and brawny men managed to shove him into an alley, kicking him hard in the stomach once he was on the ground.

One of the bigger guys picked Arnold up by his shirt collar and pulled him onto his feet. "Come on, pretty boy. The boss wants to talk to you."

"I didn't do anything." Arnold insisted weakly, blood dripping from his mouth and onto his good suit. The flowers he had gotten for Helga were forgotten and ruined at their feet. Arnold felt silly for worrying about that, but he really didn't know what was going on.

"It's not what you did, pretty boy, it's what you know." A smaller one with a nasal voice snapped.

Before anyone could say anything else, there was the sound of a whip cracking before it wrapped around the neck of the nasal man. Its wielder yanked back, sending the man spinning onto his back. "It always gets me really hot when boys play rough with each other." The woman stepped into the light. Her voice was just as seductive as she looked with sultry eyes, red lips, and a smoking hot body tucked into a shiny black catsuit, her face covered up with a mask.

The third man took a step towards her, looking excited by her attire, "Look, kitty cat…this don't concern you. Go get your ball of yarn and go home. Or maybe…go to my home. Wouldn't mind seeing what's under that."

The woman only smiled, "Thanks, but no thanks. Illiteracy is a big turn off for a girl like me. Besides, this is very much my concern."

"How so?" The man challenged, growing annoyed.

The woman wheeled her whip and it struck him hard in the face. With a yell, he fell to the ground, clutching his face.

The man holding Arnold turned so that he would have a human shield. The woman in black just smirked and in a flash, she jumped onto the wall and then sprung up behind him, her whip wrapped securely around his neck. "Let him go." She ordered slowly. The man grunted, but reluctantly obeyed. She pushed him forward to where his coworkers now stood, all of them equally dazed and confused. "You boys go back to work. And tell your boss that whatever's going down…well it's not gunna be so easy. Now run along. I've got a date."

The men all obeyed, rambling about how their boss would kill them and how it was impossible that they'd been beaten by one broad that didn't even have a gun.

She looked back at the victim, who was on the ground, trying to salvage the bouquet of lilies. She crouched down next to him and gave him a very serious look. "You know, your girlfriend is probably going to be more worried about the fact that you're bleeding than the fact that she didn't get flowers."

Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat. The seductive tone in her voice was almost enough to drive him crazy. "Yeah…I know. And she's not my girlfriend, I just want her to be."

She smirked, "Sounds very romantic. I won't keep you." In the blink of an eye, the woman was upon the fire escape, ready to keep climbing.

"Wait!" Arnold yelled. She did, leaning against the railing and looking down at him, almost with annoyance. "Thank you for saving me."

She smiled, "Don't mention it, stud. But watch your step. These numbskulls may not be bright, but they won't hesitate to kill if it's necessary."

"How do you know that?" Arnold asked curiously.

"Because they killed me." was the only answer the woman gave him before vanishing into the shadows.

**Okay! Can't have a catwoman without a whip so yay! Also if anyone is wondering what the catsuit looks like, since I didn't really want to go into detail, just think of what Michelle Pfeiffer wore in Batman Returns, only without the white detailing. Anyway, hope this is enough to hold you guys over for a while. Don't forget to review. Love ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Just as a warning to everyone, this chapter is gunna get kinda dirty. Ooh la la. So if you don't like that kind of stuff then just skip on down. I'm sure you can read the signs. It's not gunna be…super smutty. Just the closest thing to smutty that I've ever written on one of these. **

"Arnold!" Helga exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms, "Oh my god, what happened to you?" It had been difficult leaving him behind in the alley, but she had a feeling that telling him that she was the woman in black then it would only put him in more trouble. How did he even get caught up in all the madness in the first place?

Arnold stared down at Helga, "Helga? I thought we were meeting at the restaurant."

"You weren't there so I went for a walk." She lied quickly. "What the hell did you get yourself mixed up in, you stupid football head?"

Arnold laughed, putting his arms around her. "I'm fine, Helga, really. Let's go and get some dinner."

She pushed herself out of his embrace, "Uh uh! No way! You're going home and you're going to rest and stop bleeding and you're gunna like it! What the hell did you do anyway?"

"I just got mugged." Arnold lied. "I'm fine, really, let's just go to dinner."

Helga scowled, "We're going to your house and ordering pizza and putting you to bed with an icepack on your head and you're gunna like it, you got that, geek bait?"

Arnold smiled softly and revealed the only lily he'd been able to salvage and tucked it behind her ear. "Whatever you say, Helga."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What's the deal with this movie?" Helga asked from Arnold's bed as she took another bite of pizza. "What's the story? It's just some crazy guy trying to kill chicks with his car."

Arnold shrugged from under the covers. Helga had borrowed a pair of his pajama pants, but she was still wearing the purple sundress she'd been planning to wear to dinner. He'd tried sitting up, but whenever he did, Helga was always quick to push him back down and tell him that he needed to rest because he was hurt. This was often followed by an empty threat of how she would pound him if he didn't lay still. "I honestly have no idea. I've never seen it before."

"But you _own _it, football head." she asked loudly.

Arnold laughed, "You know I never expected our first date to end up like this."

Helga turned to look at him, her cheeks turning bright red, "This was supposed to be a date?" She had hoped it was, but she had taught herself to not get her hopes up with Arnold. Then again, he'd had a dream where he'd kissed her, obviously. Unless he was dreaming about some famous Helga. She thought quickly, wondering if there even _were _any famous Helgas. The only one that came to mind was Helga Hufflepuff and, for Arnold's sake, she really hoped that he wasn't dreaming about a co-founder of a fictional school.

"Yeah…then I kinda got beat up and you got all weird and wouldn't let me take you to the restaurant."

Helga narrowed her eyes. "Shut up."

Arnold got a mischievous look on his face and he sat up, wrapped his arms around Helga and pulled her down onto the bed, ignoring her yelping protest, "You shut up."

Helga laughed and tried to squirm out of his arms. She could have gotten free if she wanted, but she was perfectly content to let him hold her. "Let me up, football head!"

Arnold's hands found her sides and Helga squeaked and pushed away from him. He'd found her one ticklish spot. A devilish gleam filled his eyes and he proceeded to tickle her, despite her riotous laughter and squirming. "I thought I'd told you to shut up, Pataki." He said playfully.

"Stop it!" she squealed, laughing too hard to fight much, "I'm gunna piss my pants!"

Before either of them knew what had happened, Arnold's mouth covered hers and his hands stopped tormenting her. Helga's breath stilled and time froze. When Arnold stopped, he held himself over her, looking confused at what he'd done. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, scrambling out of his bed and trying to distract himself. Find something that needed to be done. How could he have done that. His face was burning and he had to keep himself from slamming his face into the wall.

Helga scowled in his direction before jumping across the room in a single bound. She was really glad his back was turned or she'd have some explaining to do. In a fluid motion she had spun him around and slammed him into his wall, back first. He stared at her with a shocked expression and she grinned playfully and tugged on his collar. "Shut up, Arnold."

In an instant her lips were on his again. It took him a moment to realize what was happening but when he did, he kissed back fiercely, their tongues dancing fierily as their pulled their bodies tighter together. Helga wrapped a leg around his hip and Arnold tightly grabbed her buttocks before spinning them around and pressing her into the wall, trailing kisses along her neck and onto her chest. Helga moaned weakly and Arnold used one of his hands to quiet her.

Helga raked her nails down Arnold's back and he moaned softly before wrapping his arms around her, his mouth covering hers again.

Helga hung in his embrace for only a few seconds before she coiled her legs around his hips, returning his kisses feverishly. She was faintly aware of him taking them somewhere before she was dropped upon the bed, where she unleashed a noise that was half squeal and half laugh. Arnold was upon her again in an instant, his touch sending shockwaves though her body.

She had no sooner reached up to unbutton his shirt than Arnold pulled away. Helga gave him a look, half scowl and half pout. "What's the big idea?" She reached for him, but he pulled away and the pout was gone, replaced with a complete scowl.

"Helga…are we…is this…" Arnold fumbled over his words, his face flushed and his heart still pounding.

"Too fast?" Helga finished for him, getting up onto her knees and kissing his lips gently. "Considering I've been hoping for this since I understood what it was." she paused to kiss him again, paying no mind to Arnold's breaking barriers. "The only reason I can think of to stop is if this would mean nothing to you."

Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat, "It could never mean nothing to me, Helga. I love you."

Helga was about to continue teasing him, but his words stopped her. She froze and stared at him in disbelief. "What did you just say?"

"I love you." Arnold repeated nervously.

Helga smiled softly and kissed him again, this one not meant to tease or seduce him. The love she'd felt for him since she was three welled up inside her and melted into the kiss. "Since I love you too…I see no reason for us to wait."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga didn't want to get up. She'd only fallen asleep less than an hour ago. Arnold's warm body next to hers made the task all the more undesirable. Her legs were wobbly and her head was still spinning from the pounding Arnold had given her.

Still, Toeg wouldn't wait forever and she wouldn't put off her digging for much longer. She slid out of his arms and kissed his forehead gently before writing out an excuse for her absence. The note read:

_Arnold_

_Don't think I'm just the kind of girl to get her meat then just run away. My friend, Mona, had a bit of a personal emergency so I'm off to give her a hand. Wanna give Chez Paris another try tomorrow? Call me. _

_I love you. _

_Helga._

She left the note on one of the shelves at the edge of his bed before gathering her purse and crawling onto the roof, changing into her mask and catsuit in the shadows as she prowled.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Getting into Toeg probably should have been harder. Then again, it was the middle of the night and they probably didn't consider anyone would be able to get into the air duct she'd slipped in through. She followed her ears through the ducts until she found a room with the three men she'd creamed in the alley earlier that night. They were all tied to their chairs in nicely tailored black and blue suits. The one with the nasal voice had a bullet wound in his leg and the others kept glancing at his leg as if to ask if he was alright or to remind themselves that they didn't want that.

"Now we've gone through this a million times." Said a new man with jet black hair as he spun his gun around his fingers. "When are you lads going to tell me what _really_ happened with the boy? He's the only way we can get our hands on those samples. They're the only thing that can foil our plan and I'll be DAMNED if some freak in a leather leotard and that Arnold Shortman get in my way!"

'_Samples?'_ Helga thought to herself.

**Sorry to cut it off at such a random place, but it's 3 AM and I wanna go to bed. Also, I'm sorry I've been kinda MIA with this fic. I just started a HA! Tumblr so my time has been spent making mediocre GIFs. If you're on tumblr feel free to follow me and I'll follow you. It's .com. And don't forget to review and let me know what you think of le smut…ish. Thanks for reading and I love you all!**


	7. Chapter 7

Helga tried figuring out what the suits were talking about, but apparently they'd never head of details. She'd never heard a more vague conversation in her life. All she'd learned was that Arnold was in possession of some kind of mysterious samples and whatever they were planning would be going down at the end of the month. Helga just hoped that she could figure out their plan and stop it before then. Phoebe's wedding was at the end of the month and she'd hate herself if she missed that.

Finally, she'd given up and decided to see if she could dig for questions elsewhere. As she crawled through the vent, a new and unfamiliar scent reached her nose. It smelt like…flowers. Only it was more of an oil than any actual flowers. She wasn't really sure how she knew this, she just knew. She came to a vent in the air duct and found herself staring at what looked like a biology lab. Far more advanced than any biology she'd ever done, but biology all the same.

After making sure that the lab was empty, Helga pushed open the vent and fell into the room, landing soundlessly upon her feet, despite the fact that she was wearing stilettos.

It there was anything to be learned from the contents of the lab, it was far too complex for Helga to understand. She knew what a few things were by their smell, such as copper and the like, but everything else was plant based. There were a few potted ferns on a the counters, but those were the only actual plants in the room. Still, Helga wouldn't be surprised if she were assailed by less plant odors in a green house. Helga was certain there was some significance somewhere, but she just couldn't find it. Not now at least.

There was a filing cabinet in the corner of the room and she approached it, happy to find it was unlocked. She skimmed the file names, hoping to find anything that might be useful, starting at the beginning of the alphabet. There was Aster, Azalea, Arum. Helga frowned. Clearly whoever had organized the cabinet didn't care much about alphabetizing. Then she saw something interesting. A file with the name Arnold Shortman.

Helga seized the folder and opened it, skimming through the first page. There was a black and white picture of Arnold paper clipped to the pages. There were at least a dozen pages, but she wouldn't have time to look through them just yet. She wasn't that stupid. Helga wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but she shoved the file into her catsuit and continued digging for clues and information.

"What do you think you're doing here?"

The question almost sent Helga flying out of her books. In a flash, Helga had her whip in her hand and was ready for an attack.

The woman who'd asked the question looked perfectly harmless. She was just as tall as Helga, maybe even trumping her in height by an inch or two. Her hair was a dark, yet vibrant red, rolling off her shoulders gracefully. She was dressed simply, in a white lab coat with dark rimmed glasses upon her nose. Her legs were long, her waist tiny, eyes big and mossy green, and her lips plump. Helga couldn't tell much about the woman's skin tone in the dark, but her complexion was fair. Helga had never considered doing…things with a woman before, but if she were to do so, this woman would definitely be at the top of the list.

The woman laughed and shook her head, "Oh you're the pussy cat that everyone's been so annoyed with all day."

Helga raised her chin defiantly. "I guess so."

The woman didn't look at all frightened that Helga was there. In fact, she looked amused. "they're calling you Cat Scratch. You could always introduce yourself so I can correct them."

Helga's eyes narrowed. "Not on your life, ginger. You're on their side."

"I am on nobody's side. Because nobody is on my side." The woman's words managed to confuse Helga into a brief silence. "However, I would like to know what you're doing snooping around in my files."

"There's no use in you knowing. I was just leaving." Helga crouched and made a jump for the air duct, but before she could get far, something coiled around her ankle and she was thrown onto one of the long counters, beakers shattering and liquids spilling under her. Something started burning Helga's leg and with a yelp she was up on her feet, rushing to the sink to rinse off whatever was burning her. Whatever it was, it had already burned through the fabric of her suit.

"Yes, my sweeties, I know. I won't let her hurt you." The woman cooed sweetly.

When Helga looked up, she was shocked to see vast stretches of ivy and vines cowering next to the woman, who had now removed her glasses and lab coat, revealing a green strapless leotard, that looked almost like it was made from glossy green leaves and matching gloves that snaked past her elbows. She was wearing fishnets and black high-heeled boots that snaked past her knees. Just like Helga, she was any nerdy boy's wet dream come true. The light switched on and Helga had to blink a few times to let her eyes adjust. She was surprised at just how muted her night vision made colors seem. The woman's hair was still red, but it was a darker fire hydrant color. What really got Helga going was the fact that her skin was a light shade of green.

She was stroking one of the vines as if it were a pet and a coy smile found her face. "Get her."

In a flash of green, vines and ivy sprung for Helga. Unsure of what was happening, it took a few seconds for Helga to finally react and spring away from the snaring plants. Eventually, she was cornered and vines coiled tightly around her wrists and stretched her arms until the hold was taunt enough to keep her from moving. Still, Helga struggled to get away. The woman walked forward calmly, but with fury in her eyes.

"Good kitty kitty. Now I'll ask you one more time…what were you doing in my files." She crossed her arms over her chest. "And don't try my patience. You wouldn't like it if the gloves come off, trust me."

Helga glared at her captor, "I want to stop whatever your friends are up to." Helga sneered, "Isn't it obvious?"

There was a dinging of an intercom and Helga and the green woman both looked in the direction of the speaker. _"Venom, my sweet flower." _the voice practically sang. Helga recognized it as the voice of the man she'd heard talking about samples earlier. The woman, Venom, Helga guessed, scowled and wrinkled her nose. _"I'd like to pay you a visit. Are you too busy?"_

Venom looked between the intercom and Helga before smiling wickedly. "Just taking care of my babies. Five minutes?"

"_I'll be counting the minutes, my sweet."_

One of the vines ensured that the intercom was turned off and the rest of them released Helga. Helga rubbed her wrists and stared awkwardly at the green woman. "You're letting me go? But you're on their side!"

The woman gently kissed one of the vines and watched as it slithered back into its hiding place, "I already told you, Cat Scratch, I'm not on anyone's side because nobody is on my side."

"So…are we…allies then?" Helga still didn't understand and was beginning to doubt that she ever would.

"We're complicated." Venom was beginning to sound annoyed. "I gave you give minutes to scatter and you've done a poor job of it."

Helga nodded and leaped into the vent. Before she proceeded to flee, she stuck her head out and looked down at the woman again, who crossed her arms and glared at her. "Venom, right?"

With a weak smile, the woman nodded, "Cat Scratch. The less you know and the less I know the better…for now."

"Thanks again, sister." Helga saluted at Venom and replaced the vent she'd crawled through before beginning her escape.

Venom glared at the ceiling where Cat Scratch had vanished. "I'm not your sister."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Wake up!" A voice sharply demanded as a cup of cold water was emptied upon Arnold's face.

With a gasp, Arnold shot out of his bed, scrambling onto the floor.

His attacker rolled her eyes and turned her head, "For god's sake, cover up, boy."

Arnold looked down, embarrassed to find that he was still naked after his romp with Helga. Once he thought of it, he realized Helga wasn't there.

Then…who had?

Arnold's mouth fell open. It was the woman in black. The same woman who had saved him earlier that night. She was in his _room_? How the hell did she even know where he lived? Where had Helga gone?

He scrambled over to his closet to get dressed, choosing to ask questions later. When he returned in a pair of pajama pants and a tee shirt he found the woman in black laughing lightly at a piece of paper. "Well it looks like bleeding works better than flowers if she already loves you, stud." she chuckled once she acknowledged him.

Arnold's brows came together in confusion and with a roll of her eyes, she handed him the note Helga had left behind and watched as Arnold frowned at first, but then smiled at the end. She rolled her eyes, "Let's cut to the chase, shall we lover boy?"

"This really couldn't wait until morning?" Arnold asked groggily as he sat on his bed and placed the note aside.

Her eyes narrowed. "No, it can't. Now, what do you know about…" she pulled out a file, he wasn't sure where from, "Eden Greene?"

Arnold looked even more confused than ever, "Eden Greene?" He laughed, "Eden is a scientist. She makes medication, but only from natural sources. She's one of those hippie kind of doctors, you know."

"How do you know her?"

Arnold scratched the back of his neck, "Well aside from a few letters, I really don't. I've been living in San Lorenzo, an area of South America, with my parents for quite a while so I've stumbled across quite a few new plants there. I'd send her samples and seeds of the plants and she'd catalog them and see if they had any medical use."

Helga bit her bottom lip. She was surprised she'd never heard this before. "So there are no romantic ties between you two or anything like that?"

Arnold laughed aloud now, "Are you joking? I've never even _met_ the woman. Besides, she's way out of my galaxy."

"What do you mean by that?" Helga asked.

"I needed a dictionary just to understand one of her letters." Arnold explained, "I probably couldn't even carry on a conversation with her."

She smirked, "Well I can see where a man would be intimidated by a woman who's better at something than he is."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "It's not that. Why does this matter anyway?"

"Whatever these people want from you, it has something to do with your interactions with Eden." she picked up a baseball from one of his shelves. She smirked when she recognized it as the baseball he'd caught at Mickey Kaline's last game. Arnold opened his mouth to protest, but shut it; she smirked and put the ball away. "Any idea as to where I can get in touch with Eden?"

Arnold shook his head, "Last I heard she was in a really terrible accident a few years ago. Her letters just stopped after that."

"And did you stop sending her samples?" she questioned.

"No. I thought she'd be happy to have them once she decided to get back to work."

She chewed on her lip and held her chin between her thumb and index finger, contemplating this new information. Finally, she said, "I'll keep in touch." She soared over Arnold and into the window she'd left open for her escape.

"Hey!" Arnold bellowed, "Wait!"

She returned to the window, "You just don't like seeing me leave, do ya stud?"

Arnold's cheeks turned red. "What's your name?"

A smile found her lips, "You know I can't tell you that."

"Then what do I call you?"

She shrugged and popped her hip out to the side, "Appearently they're calling me Cat Scratch. I guess it works. Catch ya later, kid."

With that, she vanished again. Arnold sighed and settled into his bed again. Things were certainly getting strange.

**Ok so everyone needs to know that I love you, but my updating on both this fic and my other one (Helga's Tower) are going to be delayed because I'm on vacation for the holidays. Sorry friends. **

**P.S. A Catwoman and now a Poison Ivy. What next? A Harley Quinn? Hmmm…a Harley Quinn…I wonder who that could be. Hehehehehehe. Don't forget to review. **


	8. Chapter 8

Helga's fingers rapidly flew around on her keyboard. She never even knew that she was capable of typing so quickly. She had to find out more about this Eden Greene. She'd already wasted enough time mending her suit where acid had soaked through. She scatched at her leg, which she'd wrapped up in a bandage after smothering the burn with aloe, hoping that it would do some good.

So far, she'd learned that Eden had come up with a vegan alternative for fish oils using extracts from some fancy flowers and trees that Helga had never heard of before.

Still, nothing about the accident Arnold had mentioned.

She tried refining her search, adding accident to the engine.

Finally, Helga got a hit.

She was surprised when she finally saw a picture of Eden. She wore big black rimmed glasses that made her eyes look twice as big, her eyebrows were untamed, and her mop of dull brown hair was loaded with frizz and snarls. She was much taller than the other scientist in the picture on her right, a squatty bald man that Helga could only describe as creepy. Still, Eden's teeth were straight and her figure was slim. She had the potential to be very pretty, she just didn't seem interested using it.

Helga scrolled down to the article and began to read, occasionally muttering a word or phrase aloud.

_Doctor Eden Green, age 23,_

Helga stopped reading. "What the hell!" she exclaimed. "A doctor at twenty-three? Man, did that girl graduate college when she was seven? I'm not even done with school yet and she was a _doctor_? That only makes her three years older than me!" She opened another window to see if she could answer. She did.

"Eden Greene becomes a certified botanist at age twenty-two." Helga continued to read the page and suddenly decided Eden wasn't just a genius, but completely insane. She'd taken more than twice the classes Helga took per semester _and_ worked a part time job at a green house. "People actually _do_ this?" Helga sneered. "What the hell is she thinking? Hasn't she ever had fun before."

Something rammed against her good leg and she looked down to see Shadow staring up at her. She smirked and scratched behind the cat's ear. Mona had warned her that it was likely Shadow would pop in on her every now and then. "I should probably get back to work, huh?"

The cat mewed and Helga took it as a yes.

"Ok, here we go."

_Doctor Eden Greene, age 23, has been making great strides in creating what she called 'the skeleton antidote'. When asked to explain the antidote in lamans terms, Doctor Greene said, "The reason I want to call it the skeleton antidote is because of a skeleton key. A skeleton key can unlock any door in a particular building so I'm trying to make an antidote that can negate most, if not all poisons."_

Helga skimmed through the rest of the article. It was mostly an interview about the benefits of the skeleton antidote and how Eden felt being a 'woman in a man's world' and so young for a scientist all the same. Helga gathered that Eden was very comfortable in her skin and wasn't intimidated by her colleagues. Helga had to admit it was impressive. But what about the accident?

Assuming it was even an accident.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The phone rang and in an instant Helga was awake, paying no mind to the keyboard imprints on the side of her face where she had fallen asleep searching for details concerning Eden's accident. Helga grabbed the phone and answered it, still half asleep.

"Thank you for calling Weston Advertising. Mister Crause is in a meeting right now, may I take a message?"

"_Uh…Helga?"_

Helga jumped, suddenly wide awake, "Arnold!" she puased to look around her room then to the laptop she'd been using as pillow. "I…guess I'm not at work."

Arnold laughed, _"No, I guess not. I got your note though. It was kinda hard for me to get back to sleep knowing you weren't there. Well, not knowing where you were really_."

Helga swooned. _Oh my sweet angel. Your concern is sweeter than the love we made last night. How I pain to see you worry for me._ Quickly, she shook herself out of her poetic inner ramblings. "Oh don't worry about me, Arnold. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. Besides, not a lot of people wanna take on old Betsy."

Arnold chuckled, _"Yeah, I guess…I just don't want you to get hurt. Anyway, I was wondering if we could do a lunch date at Chez Paris instead of dinner. It's Gerald's bachlor party tonight."_

"Oh yeah." Helga said teasingly. "You, Gerald, and some other baffoons are going to watch ladies get naked and jiggle around."

She could practically feel his face turning red, _"Uh…yeah I guess. I don't have to go if you don't want me to. I mean-"_

"Relax, hairboy." she cut him off, "Go to Gerald's party. You can't have a bachelor party without the best man. Besides, I can meet up with you later tonight."

"_Oh. Ok, cool. So is two a good time for lunch?"_

Helga checked her clock. It was half past noon. "Yeah, two's great. I'll see you there."

"_Ok, Helga. I love you."_

Her heart melted, _"I love you too."_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I'll take the grilled salmon and just water to drink." Helga said, handing her menu to the waiter.

"Excellent choice. I shall be back with your food soon." The waiter collected Arnold's menu and scuttled off to the kitchen.

"You'd think that guy would have gotten a promotion by now." Helga commented with a smirk.

Arnold laughed, "Well I guess he's happy in his work."

"Arnold?" A familiar voice said, followed by a very phlegm invested snort.

Helga's blood turned cold and she prayed it was just her imagination. But no, she looked over her shoulder and there was Arnold's country cousin, Arnie.

Arnold looked almost as displeased as Helga. "Hey Arnie…what're you doing here?"

"We came for the wedding." Another snort. "Hey babe, Arnold's here."

Helga arched a brow. Who was Arnie's 'babe'?

The question was answered soon enough when Lila came up next to Arnie. She grinned. "Oh my gosh, Arnold! Helga! It's ever so great to see you two!"

Arnold smiled uncomfortably, "Yeah, I haven't seen you two since the wedding."

'_What wedding?'_ Helga thought to herself.

"Helga, you look lovely." Lila said sweetly, "That blue is a wonderful color on you."

"Thanks, Lila." Helga said cautiously.

"I'm ever so certain I haven't seen you since high school graduation. Just wait and I'll be there to say hello properly in just a second." Lila seized Arnie's sleeve and dragged him away.

"What wedding?" Helga asked once they were out of earshot.

"Their wedding." Arnold whispered back.

Lila came up behind Arnold and embraced him gently.

Helga leaped up onto her feet, "Woah! Lila!"

With a giggle, Lila rubbed the massive bulge in her belly, "About six months along. We're going to name him Albert."

The idea of Lila being married to Arnie was a shocker enough, but seeing Lila _pregnant_ with Arnie's baby was something she'd never expected to see. "Wow that's great, Lila. I'm so happy for you."

Lila grinned and giggled. "Thanks ever so much, Helga. We're so excited."

"I'll bet. So…you're here for Gerald and Phobe's wedding."

Arnie snorted. "Yeah."

"Cool. It'll be fun seeing you there." Arnold chripped in.

Arnie was oblivious to the hint, but Lila understood. She smiled and wrapped her arm around Arnie's. "It'll be ever so much fun. We'll see you two at the wedding."

Helga and Arnold waved as they left.

Once Lila and Arnie were gone, Helga and Arnold relaxed a little.

"Well that was…" Arnold began, unsure of what adjective to use.

"Unexpected." Helga offered.

He took her hand and smiled, "Yeah."

**HA! Take that you people who think you know what's gunna happen. Bet you weren't expecting that. Well I gotta go see animals! Don't forget to review. :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Some more sleaze comin' up. It's probably not gunna be as classy as last time so…yeah. **

Venom was lounging in the pool in Grayson Hart's basement. The pool had once been pristine and beautiful, reeking with chlorine. Now, it had a green hue to it, looking like it had merely been neglected. However, anyone stupid enough to take a swim would learn soon enough that the water was filled with poison.

Before Venom had become…well, Venom, she had done a lot of diving. Her father had insisted upon her finding a sport that would get her outside and keep her active. Outside was never a problem, but active most certainly was. She'd never expected that she'd love diving and swimming as much as she did. It kept her sane where nothing else could.

A door opened and Venom rolled her eyes before sinking under the water. When she reemerged in the middle of the pool, she was pleasantly surprised to see Motley waiting at the edge of the pool, crouched down with a big grin on her face. Motley was the closest thing to a friend that Venom had in this collection of fools.

"Hey Red!" Motley squealed, waving enthusiastically.

Venom rolled her eyes, "I've asked you to not call me that a hundred times."

Motley's grin faltered, "Sorry."

Venom dove under the water again and kicked her way over to the wall, pulling herself out of the water and making her way onto the middle of the three diving boards. Motley scrunched her nose and crossed her arms at Venom. "Well the boss wants to see you."

Venom stood on the edge of the board and crossed her arms at Motley. You'd never be able to tell, but under Motley's green and black jester suit and makeup was a tiny Caucasian blonde girl. Venom knew the only reason Motley was in on whatever the hell it was was because of Grayson. Venom didn't know why, but for whatever reason, the girl was absolutely insane about the man, and just plain insane most of the time too.

"He's not my boss." Venom retorted before bouncing on the edge of the board.

Motley glared at Venom. "He pays you, doesn't he?"

Venom glared in Motley's direction, "Fine. Tell him I'll be there in ten minutes.

Motley's scowl was quickly replaced with her usual grin, "Kay. I'll see ya soon."

Venom bounced on the board three times before doing a triple front flip, ending in a dive. She climbed back out of the water and threw her blue bikini aside, seizing a towel and her clothes. She didn't bother putting her clothes back on yet. She toweled her hair dry as she walked past the security station. She couldn't hide her surprise when she found the new security guard awkwardly staring at one of the screens, the waist of his pants hanging below where they belonged as he rapidly stroked the appendage between his legs. She looked at the screen he was staring at and smirked.

Venom pulled on her gloves and pushed open the door. The man jumped and scrambled to pull his pants up, freezing when he saw her. Before the man could stop her, Venom, yanked him onto the ground and searched his pockets before finding what she was sure was in his pockets. After all, he was a handsome young man. He'd be stupid to not carry a condom around with him. She called on some of her babies and he soon had a vine gagging him and binding his wrists as she slide the condom onto his package. The guard looked confused and even a little frightened, but his eyes rolled up into the back of his head when she pushed his penis into her soaking pussy.

Venom moaned and cried out while she rode him. It had been a long time. Too long. She hadn't been with someone since…

She came and froze on top of her victim. He stared at her, as if silently asking why she'd stopped. Her eyes became glossy and she bit her lip. That didn't stop the tears from spilling from her eyes. She buried her face in his chest as she sobbed. His vine gag left his mouth and Venom touched his face before kissing his lips.

He choked for breath and she watched him slip away, "I'm so sorry." She whispered, climbing off of him and curling up into a ball on the floor to weep some more. What had she become?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga held onto Arnold as they stared at the clouds rolling by from his bed. She chewed on her lip before she finally said what she'd been wanting to say since lunch.

"I don't want you to go."

Arnold looked surprised. They hadn't spoken in almost half an hour. They had just held each other and watched as the clouds rolled by. Not that he minded. He was happy to simply be with Helga and the time to his thoughts were always welcome. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was scared for Helga. These people that were after him…what did Eden have to do with it? And what did he have to do with it? Would they go as far as hurting Helga to get to him?

No. He'd kill them if they touched her.

"I told you I wouldn't if you didn't want me to." He said, kissing her brow gently.

She laughed, "Are you talking about Gerald-o's party?"

"Yeah…what're you talking about?" Arnold looked confused now.

"To San Lorenzo." She answered, almost reluctantly. Arnold looked down at her to find she was avoiding his gaze. He laughed and she glared at him. "Or not."

Arnold ignored her last comment and kissed her gently. While they kissed, she found herself turning into goo in the palm of his hand. "My going back all depended on if you accepted or rejected my…confession."

Helga giggled, "Five words, football head. Future Tech Industries roof top."

Arnold chuckled, "Wait…I'm confused, did you just say that you love me?"

Helga grinned and shook his shoulders, "What? Are you deaf!"

Arnold leaned in to kiss her, but was interrupted by a loud buzzing in his pocket. He scowled and pulled out his phone. Before he could even see who was calling, Helga snatched it out of his hand, hit the 'talk' button and shouted, "NOT NOW!"

"_Not now?"_ Gerald asked on the other end of the line. _"Who the hell is this?"_

Arnold shook his head and bit back a laugh when Helga answered his phone, but grew confused when she started laughing so hard that no noise came out. She waved her hands in front of her face and gave Arnold his phone back before burrying her face in his chest as she giggled.

"Hello?" Arnold said cautiously.

"_Man, what the hell is going on? You've like fallen off the face of the planet!" _Gerald chided.

Then Arnold realized what was so funny. It took all of his self control to not become a pile of giggling hysterics like Helga. "Sorry Gerald." Arnold laughed lightly, "I've been with Helga."

Gerald paused on the other side of the line. _"Wait a second, bubba. You've been _with_ Helga or you've been _WITH _Helga?"_

Arnold paused to smile at Helga, rubbing up and down her arm. "The second one."

Gerald whooped on the end of the line. _"Yeah! You go my man! Wait a second…this doesn't mean-"_

Helga ripped the phone out of Arnold's hand, "Arnold's gunna be at your stupid party, even if he doesn't want to. Now buzz off, Gerald-o."

"_Nice hearing from you too, Helga."_ Gerald sneered jokingly.

Helga smirked and hung up on him before tossing the phone across the room and nestling back into Arnold's embrace.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold told Gerald everything as they drove to the 'gentlemen's club'. Even the parts about Cat Scratch that he hadn't told Helga about.

"Sounds like some comic book shit, man." Gerald said after Arnold told him about Cat Scratch.

"I know!" Arnold exclaimed. "It makes me feel bad, but…I think I'm kind of attracted to her. How horrible is that? I don't even know her name. Hell I don't even know what color her hair is."

Gerald rolled his eyes as he parked the car, "Are you kiddin' man? I'm getting married in less than two weeks and I'm already attracted to this woman. It's not horrible."

"I guess." Arnold said half-heartedly as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

Gerald wrapped an arm around Arnold's neck in a brotherly fashion, "_But_, I would recommend you tell Pataki. I get that you don't want her to worry or get hurt or anything, but knowing _Helga_…it's better she hears it from you."

Arnold pushed open the door and they walked inside, "Yeah, I guess you're right, Gerald."

They gasped once they were inside. They had reserved the entire club for the night and everyone was there. Harold, Sid, Stinky, Brainy, even Eugene had come, bringing his partner Troy along.

They were all there, tied up and gagged around poles on the stage. A girl in a tight fitting green and black jester weilding a hammer amost as big as she was giggled as a pair of hyenas snapped at Stinky's ankles, finding some sick joy in how frightened Stinky was.

She looked up and saw Arnold and Gerald. "Nice of you boys to finally show up." She squealed.

Another woman, a red head wearing black stelleto boots, fishnet stockings, and a strapless leotard that seemed to be made of leafs with matching gloves, locked the door behind them. She blew some powder from her palm of her hand and into their faces. "Lights out, boys."

Arnold and Gerald choked on the powder before they collapsed on the floor.

**Well that's aobut it for now. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think. Hearts and hugs to everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10

**For those of you unfamiliar with my writing style, the segment(s) in italics are dreams/memories/flashbacks/whatever.**

"_Alright so if this works." the young man on the computer screen began. He was young, in his late twenties at most with unruly dark hair and silver rimmed glasses perched on his nose. _

_Still, he wasn't nearly as young as the botanist on the other side of the country conversing with him through video chat. He'd only met Eden in person twice, but even with miles separating them they still made a wonderful team. "If we can fuse the venom from your dragons and the poison from my daphne berries then we're one step closer to the skeleton antidote. We need a common base between the two before we can get anywhere." _

_He smiled dreamily as he watched her at work, huffing a breath of air to get her big frizzy bangs out of her eyes every now and then. She wasn't the normal vision of beauty, but something about her made Keith's heart skip a beat whenever she bit her lip, twisted some hair around her fingers, chewed on her thumb, how every discovery, outcome was celebrated by a dance to Tubthumping or a Daft Punk song. Her little quirks made her beautiful. At least to him. _

_She looked in his direction and Keith looked away quickly, but not quickly enough. _

_Eden slammed the beaker she was holding onto the table, not hard enough to damage it, but enough to make a point. "That's it, Keith! I swear this is close to the hundredth time I've caught to you staring at me like that. What the hell is the deal?"_

_Keith swallowed and pulled on his collar. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Keith, I graduated high school when I was fifteen. Are you honestly going to play stupid with me." Her nose wrinkled and her eyes darkened._

_Keith laughed lightly, "Oh god, E, I love you." _

_Eden's expression became shocked. "Do you…I mean…you…love me…do you…mean that?"_

_Keith froze after he realized what he'd said. And over video chat. He'd hoped he could be at least a _little_ more romantic than that. He avoided looking at the screen as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…I…I…" The articulate young scientist had become a puddle of stuttering mush. _

"_Keith!" Eden exclaimed, hoping to bring him back into reality. _

_Keith winced, "Of course I mean it. You're my 42."_

_He looked up cautiously, just in time to see her face turn red before she disconnected the chat. His face went white. "E?" He tapped on the space bar of his compute and his blood went cold. "Eden?" He called out again, still to no avail. He cursed himself and tried setting up a new chat. A red window saying 'chat declined' popped up and he cussed loudly. He took out his phone and tried calling her. "_Hi, you've reached Doctor Greene, I can't come to the phone right now-" _Keith hung up and growled at the device before trying to start a chat again. _

_It had been almost three hours before he gave up on contacting her again. He staggered into his apartment and dropped his keys on the table, knocking his lamp onto the floor in the process. He didn't even care. He collapsed into a chair in his living room and, for the first time in months, turned on the television. As always, there was nothing good on. _

_There was a knock at the door and Keith slowly climbed out of the chair. How could he have been so stupid in telling Eden he loved her like that? She'd never talk to him again. _

_His eyes went wide when he answered the door and his mouth fell open. There stood Eden, her unruly mass of hair somehow tamed into a bun behind her left ear. Her lips shone, a pale gloss coating them and she wore eyeliner and mascara behind her glasses. She avoided his gaze and chewed on her lip. "So…what were you saying?" She asked at last._

_Without another word, Keith grinned and pulled her into his arms, kissing her feircly. She gasped and sharply stole a breath before collapsing into his embrace, rolling up onto her toes. Keith lifted her off the ground, pulling her feet out of her shoes before taking her in his appartment, slamming the door behind him. A few seconds passed and Eden was bad in the hall, collecting the shoes she had borrowed from her neighbor. She squealed when Keith came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back inside before slamming the door shut._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Keith opened his eyes lazily just in time to watch the girl that called herself Motley tying up some boys he'd never seen before. They were young men really, probably twenty-five at most. He'd been in this basement for almost a week now. Every now and then Motley and her hyenas would come in to check on him and give him enough food and water to keep him from starving. He didn't understand what was going on though.

"Boy howdy!" one of them exclaimed, "We're all gunna die!"

A blond one with an oddly shaped head rolled his eyes, "We aren't gunna die, Sid."

The black shook his head, "Well let's hope your little girlfriend gets here soon."

"Cat Scratch isn't my girlfriend, Gerald." The blond one chided, "Helga is."

"You're dating Helga?" a small red headed one chirped in, "That's an interesting turn of events."

Keith rolled his eyes, "What're you boys in for?" He asked, unsure if they even knew he was there.

"Wilikers!" One of the taller ones exclaimed, "How long you been here?"

"About a week." Came the annoyed answer. "I don't even know what they want from me. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Don't feel alone, bubba." Gerald said, "We just got kidnapped from my bachelor party."

Keith's nose wrinkled, "Tough break. I'm Keith."

The blonde one, named Arnold, proceeded to introduce everyone to Keith. When asked if they knew anything, Arnold was more than happy to fill Keith, and everyone else, in on what he knew. When Arnold mentioned Eden, Keith scowled and snapped, "Eden has nothing to do with this."

"What, you know her or something?" Gerald challenged.

Keith scowled, "Better than you'd think. She was a…colleague of mine. She wouldn't hurt a fly. She'd have to be really desperate do anything even half as horrible as this."

"Well then maybe she's desperate." A new voice. A _woman's_ voice, chimed in.

Everyone searched for the speaker, unable to find her. Arnold only smiled, "Hello Cat Scratch."

"Hey stud." Came the answer from some unknown location. "Now, what were the stats based upon the Skeleton Antidote?"

Keith looked surprised, "How do you know about the Skeleton Antidote?"

Cat Scratch 'shrugged from her hiding place, "You have your keeps and I'll have mine.

**Too tired…too early for tired…going to bed. Love you all and don't forget to review.**


	11. Chapter 11

Venom scowled in the corner of the room as Motley leaned against Grayson's desk, smiling brightly. "So, muffin, what are we gunna do with 'em?"

Grayson held his chin and scowled at Motley, "We take care of them, you slatter!"

Motley jumped off his desk behind her pets, who snarled and snapped in Grayson's direction. "S-s-sorry boss."

"Thaddeus!" He exclaimed, standing and slamming his fists on his desk. "My name is THADDEUS!"

Motley swallowed a lump in her throat, "Sorry Thaddeus."

Venom shook her head. Motley, or Carlson depending on who she was talking to, had a very abusive, complex, and spastic relationship. One second, she was on his arm, they were cuddling, and seemed…happy. Then he would snap and start going on about how his name was Thaddeus. It had once been Thaddeus, but he had changed it after his parents died and he'd finished college. He didn't know that Venom knew this, but she wasn't going to work for him without knowing at least _some_thing about him, even though he really was her only shot and fixing a mistake. He was normally very quiet and secretive, but she could sometimes figure out what he had planned. However, whatever yarn he was spinning was still a mystery to her.

Grayson got up and started pacing back and forth in front of his desk. "I didn't want things to happen like this, but they're all getting too close."

Motley crossed her arms and frowned at Venom. "It's all Red's fault."

Venom glared at Motley and pushed herself off the wall. She didn't see how it could have been her fault. She didn't even know anyone they'd taken…did she? "I'm taking a walk."

"Don't get into too much trouble." Grayson snapped.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What do you mean you don't know where she went?" Cat Scratch snapped, jumping from the air duct and landing in front of Keith.

"Boy howdy!" Sid exclaimed zealously with a grin on his face, "Maybe we'll get that bachelor party after all."

Cat Scratch narrowed her eyes at Sid and slung her whip around. With a crack, it knocked Sid's hat off his head, "You were saying?"

Sid swallowed a lump in his throat. "Nothing."

"That's right." she replied. She turned back to Keith, "Now."

She was interrupted by a trap door opening, flooding light into the room.

Helga sprung up into her hiding place when she heard footsteps. It was Venom, wielding a dagger. Without a word, Helga watched as the green woman got closer and closer to Arnold. If she hurt him, Helga would kill her. She was surprised when Venom bent down and cut the ties around Arnold's feet before circling around and cutting his wrists free.

"Come on out, kitty kitty." Venom called as she started releasing Gerald.

Helga jumped down, "Hold the phone, Venom. I'm confused. You helped kidnap this guys, right?"

"Yeah!" Stinky chimed in, "You was the one who sprayed knock out gas on Gerald and Arnold."

"Yeah! Why should we trust you?" Sid added.

"Because Miss Kitty can't get you all out through the air ducts. It's suicide. Plus, I have a car." She looked down at Sid and Stinky, "But I can't gaurentee there's enough room. How about we leave these two behind?"

"So…we're allies then?" Helga said, sounding confused.

"The situation is still complicated, but I'd like to simplify it once we hole up somewhere." Venom passed Stinky and Sid and freed Eugene and Troy, who fell into each other's arms.

"We could go to my house." Arnold offered.

Cat Scratch shook her head, "Too obvious."

"Mighty Pete?" Gerald said, somewhat skeptical.

Venom shook her head, "Too exposed." Everyone raised an eyebrow at her. "What? Is it really so odd that I know about Mighty Pete?"

Helga smirked, recalling how Venom spoke to the plants, and they obeyed, "No, I guess not."

"What about the sewers?" Sid suggested.

Venom and Cat Scratch both wrinkled their nose at him and in unison said, "Ew."

"There's an abandoned lab under the interstate by the pier." Keith said.

"Sounds perfect." Cat Scratch said as she freed Keith.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Man, what a dump." Gerald said as they walked into the lab. Weeds overtook everything.

Venom shoved the men aside and stood in the center of the room. "Alright, kids, clean it up or you're mulch."

Everyone watched in awe as the plants retreated to their roots. Everything was still covered in dirt, but at least the tables and stools that had once been engulfed in vines and leafs were visible again. From the back of the group, Cat Scratch crossed her arms and cleared her throat. "Alright, so you wanted to simplify…how do you plan on doing that?"

Venom hoisted herself onto the table and had begun braiding her hair, "By sharing, of course. You give me your identiy and your story and I'll give you mine."

Helga's eyes went wide and shot between Venom and Arnold. "You mean…now?"

She nodded, "Don't worry…won't be nearly as embarrassing for you as it'll be for me."

"Yeah, right."

Keith watched cautiously as Venom jumped from the table and went straight for a duffle bag. She pulled out and old and dusty pair of jeans and a tee shirt, shaking them out and sneezing at the dust. "Have you…been here before?"

"You could say that." She answered as she pulled the jeans up and the shirt down. She pulled out a syringe filled with clear fluid and everyone exclaimed and leaped back. Venom raised and eyebrow. "It's for me. Now, excuse me."

"That's not the way to the bathroom." Keith advised cautiously.

"I'm not going to the bathroom." she snapped before slamming the door behind her.

They all stood in silence for a few minutes before Arnold finally asked, "So…um…who are you then?"

Helga glared at him and before she could answer, the door opened again. Helga's and Keith's mouths fell open.

"E?" Keith breathed.

Eden crossed her arms and glared at him, "Shut up, Keith. It's really fucking complicated."

Keith took a step forward and extended a hand to touch her face, "Is that really you?"

Eden seized his hand and twisted his arm around, pressing it against his back, "Unless you want to die, don't touch me." She hissed before releasing him.

"Wait a second…_you're _Eden?" Helga repeated. "Eden is…Venom."

Eden shrugged and twisted her braid around her hand, "Better than being dead, which is what I should be."

Helga's nose wrinkled, "You should be dead?"

Eden shrugged, "Yep."

"Weird, me too." Helga said, almost laughing.

"Really?" Eden sounded curious now. "How did you 'die'?"

"I saw something I wasn't supposed to see and I took a shot to the shoulder and went splat in a river. Then a cat gave me eight more lives and…well…here I am." Helga shrugged, "It sounds unbelievable, but it's what happened."

Eden chuckled, "It really doesn't make any sense. But I fell into a massive vat of poisons and toxins and venoms and I guess I just…absorbed it or something." She felt Keith's hand on her shoulder and she stepped away. "I said no, Keith." She chided.

"Give me one good reason." He snapped, grabbing her wrist and pulling her forward. She looked fearful, not of him, but for him. "One stupid reason why I can't even _touch_ you anymore! You've been gone for two years and now I see you again and you're treating me like you despise me!"

"I'm doing it to _protect_ you, you moron!" Eden snarled.

"You're fierce, E, but you'll always be the girl who vomited on me a Disneyland." He smiled and raised a hand to touch her face.

She blocked his hand and glared at him and to her surprise, he laughed. "It's not funny, you ingrate. I'm _poison_."

"Yeah." Helga chimed in, "I'm confused. Do you mean you're…metaphorically poison or-"

"I'm _literally_ poison." Eden answered, almost yelling. "One touch and you're dead in under a minute. One _kiss_ and you're dead in five seconds. I've only done either on purpose four-" She paused recalling the security guard with pain on her face. "Five times. It was kind of self defense. Anyway, we can get back to my sob story later. I'm curious about _you_." She pointed at Helga. "You say you've died too so at least we have that in common so far. And now a common goal…I think. What's your name and your deal with all this?"

Arnold gave her a reassuring smile, "We're all in this together. There's no harm in being able to trust us."

Gerald rolled his eyes, "I'm getting _married_. Isn't my life crazy enough."

Keith gently touched Eden's shoulder, half expecting her to shove him away, and thrilled when she didn't. "Can I see the serum you made that made you…"

"That neutralized my appearance?" she finished for him, handing him a protected syringe. "Go for it. It's pretty easy to conjure. That and you know me, everything's up top." Eden had a very organized mind and vivid photographic memory. It was one of the reasons she got through school so quickly.

Keith nodded, "I'll see if I can make any tweaks and if they'll do any good."

Eden thanked him before turning back to Helga. "Now, hurry up kitty kitty. Is your romantic interest one of the kidnapping victims too?"

Keith overheard her and looked up from his work before he could begin. "You still consider me a romantic interest?"

Eden winced at the words, but answered, "You were always the only interest."

With a grin on his face, Keith got back to work.

Helga studied the walls intently, avoiding everyone's gaze. "My romantic interest hasn't done anything that should get him involved in this."

Eden rolled her eyes, "Neither has poor Arnold, but he's in the mess anyway." She bit her lip, "By the way, Arnold, I'm really really sorry you got dragged into this."

"It's ok, Eden." Arnold said reassuringly, "But she's right, Cat Scratch. You can trust me. You can trust…us."

Helga scowled at the ground, "At first, the only reason I was involved was because they killed me. I wanted revenge. Now…now it's more about keeping the boy I've been madly in love with since I was three safe."

Helga pulled off her mask, allowing it to bunch at her neck before she combed her hair out of it. All the boys were on their feet, mouths hanging open.

"Pataki?" Gerald asked skeptically.

"Helga? Boy howdy!" Sid exclaimed

"Helga?" Eugene chirpped in, "Wow you look amazing!"

Arnold was the last to respond, "H-h-Helga?" He finally managed to sputter.

Helga crossed her arms and nodded, "That's right. Helga."

**Well I hope you've enjoyed your dose of madness! Hope you had a nice doomsday! Don't forget to review! Hearts and smooches. **


	12. Chapter 12

_Carlson sighed as she stared at Hillwood Insane Asylum. She _had_ been hoping to get an internship at Doctor Monroe's office in Los Angeles, but _no_. She was stuck with a year internship at Hillwood's loony bin. Granted, Carlson had always had a weakness for the mentally…unstable, but she didn't want to spend the first year of her career babysitting a bunch of hopeless cases._

_Her ultimate career goal was to eventually work for the FBI's behavioral analysis unit. Her mother had been in the very same unit of the FBI before the incident. Carlson wanted more than anything to help people. To keep them from going through what she went through. What experience could she gain here?_

_Finally, she swallowed her pride and left her car, shielding herself from the rain on her way into the building. _

_The first half of the day was filled with paperwork, tours, and giving Carlson what she needed to work for the asylum. A security badge, a taser, for the occasional self defense needs, and, of course, her list of patients. Or patient more like._

"_Sorry to start you off with such a heavy load." said Rita, a large black woman with enough sass to power a freight train. "He's combed through every other doctor and nurse in this place. We figure he may need a new face."_

_Carlson wrinkled her nose at her 'heavy load'. One patient, a young man, about her age, by the name of Thaddeus Gammelthorpe. "Look, if you folks don't think I can do this job then that's fine, but I can handle more than _one_ patient."_

_Rita pursed her lips and shook her head, "Sugar, you came in here with a 4.0 grade average since the third grade. Your recommendations are outta this world. Trust me, no one doubts your abilities. In fact, most of us are shocked that you're even stuck in this place. I won't even sugar coat it, child, that's what you are. Thaddeus is just…well he's a hard egg to crack."_

_Carlson sighed, not fully believing Rita, but she didn't have much choice. She either worked a year at the asylum or her years of schooling went to waste. It was too late to find another internship now, not that anyone would take her. "Alright, fine. So what's his story." _

_Rita motioned for Carlson to take a seat, and she did. "Thaddeus was always a…special boy. As far back as his forth grade year at least. That's when he started to get a little…crazy at least. He always kept his grades up and was a really exceptional student, but he was always getting himself into trouble. His records say that when he was nine he locked himself in the school's principal's office and pelted kickballs at anyone who tried to approach for a good portion of the day."_

_Carlson arched a brow at this, "He sounds like a twisted little freak." _

_Had they been where patients could hear them, Rita probably would had hushed Carlson, but instead she laughed lightly, "That's nothing. Earlier that same year he snuck into the local zoo painted in tiger stripes and managed to release a giraffe and two zebras."_

_Carlson actually cracked up at this, "Oh my god! And all of this when he was a kid? No _wonder_ he ended up in this place…how exactly _did_ he end up in this place?_"

"_He brutally murdered four girls." Rita admitted sadly, "They could never figure out why he did it, but he's been here since. And don't be fooled, he seems completely harmless, but he's really dangerous. You need to be careful with him." _

_Carlson nodded and collected her files. "Right. Thanks for the input, Rita."_

"_Don't mention it, Honey. And you know where to find me if you need me." Rita reminded the new intern with a smile. _

_Waving, Carlson made her way to her patient's room. The more she read his file, the less sense he made. No one could figure out why he'd done it, what his motive was, or anything. With a small outward smile, Carlson realized that maybe this was the break she needed. If she could break Thaddeus, she might just have a shot at the BAU. _

_She knocked gently on his door before unlocking it and entering. "Hello? Thaddeus?"_

_He was seated at his desk. His room was pristine and neat, his bed was made, and even the page on which he was writing was clear and organized. He turned around and smiled widely, "Hello. You must be Doctor Motts."_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Wait a second, _WHAT?" _Arnold exclaimed as Helga pulled off one of her gloves to scratch her scalp, not wanting the hidden barbs to rake her skin.

Helga rolled her eyes, "You can ask me to wait and yell what all you want, football head, this doesn't make me any less…me. Hey Venom…Eden…" Helga paused unsure of what to call Eden. "You. You got any extra clothes I can borrow?"

Eden sighed, noting that her hair was beginning to get a red hint to it again. "Eden is just fine. And I think I have something, let me see." She readjusted her gloves before digging back into her bag and tossing Helga and pair of jeans and holding up two tee shirts. "I have Daft Punk and AC/DC. Unless you want Alice Cooper." she motioned to the Alice Cooper shirt that she was wearing. "But I wouldn't recommend it unless you want a really bad rash."

"I'll take AC/DC." Helga said. "For a scientist, you have a very young wardrobe."

Eden tossed Helga the shirt and cocked a brow, "I'm twenty-five. Do you honestly think I've spent my whole life in school and labs?"

"Well obviously not that last two years." Keith mumbled loudly.

Eden scowled in his direction and picked up the dusty duffle bag and hurled it into the back of his head, almost knocking his face into an old cabinet and throwing his glasses off. He rubbed the back of his head as he groped for his glasses, "Same old Eden."

Helga smirked, "Alright, I'm going to get changed."

Arnold just stared between them his mouth agape before he exploded, "Why won't you talk to me?" He exclaimed as Helga opened the door to change.

Helga stopped and looked over her shoulder at him, "Are we seriously going to do this now, football head?" she snapped.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, closing the distance between them and glaring at her, their faces inches apart. "I've been worried sick about you since all this started and now come to find out that you've been breaking into buildings and climbing through air ducts and picking fights in alleys! I deserve an explanation."

Helga's eyes narrowed, "I wasn't picking a fight, I was protecting _you_." she snapped.

"So that's what all _this_ is about?" Arnold snarled, grabbing her whip and shaking it for emphasis. "Protecting me?"

Gerald and the rest of the group watched in awe from the other side of the room. Arnold rarely if ever lost his temper. It was like watching a bunny eat its own children. "Man, I'm sure she has a good reason, cool out."

"Stay out of this, Gerald!" Arnold snarled, his gaze never leaving Helga. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Her eyes remained fiery, but there was a thin layer of hurt beneath it. "Yeah, because you definitely would have believed me."

"How would you know?" Arnold was yelling now. "You never tried."

Eden could see how hard Helga was taking Arnold's reaction. She cleared her throat, just enough to get Helga's attention and subtly pointed at the air duct over head.

Helga understood. Eden was giving her an escape route. Perfect timing too. She was seconds from bursting into tears. "Well maybe I was afraid you'd react like this." She snarled.

Arnold's gaze softened and before he could apologize, Helga had twisted herself out of his grip and sailed into the open duct. It was large enough that she could stand upright in it and she took advantage of that by running from the room in a sprint.

Arnold cursed under his breath and collapsed onto the floor, burying his face in his hands. "God, I'm so stupid."

Keith smirked, "At least you can touch yours."

Eden's eyes narrowed and she picked up a stool and threw it out the window before jumping.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga could hardly believe she was even capable of crying so much. She'd cried all the way through the air ducts until she reached the outside. She cried on the climb to the roof. She cried as she changed her clothes. Still, she was crying. How many tears could a body even contain?

Someone sat down beside her and she jumped, but calmed down once she saw that it was just Eden. Her hair was almost the same vibrant shade of red it had been before and her skin was beginning to get the light green hue again. "How long until the stupid football head gets here?" she choked.

Eden smirked, "Don't worry. No one's getting up here any time soon." She motioned to the door to the roof, which was engulfed in vines, ivy, and branches.

Helga laughed lightly, rubbing the tears from her eyes, "Bet that comes in handy."

"It can be. I'll probably miss it if I ever get back to normal…you wanna talk?" Eden shrugged, "I'm not really good at this whole girl thing so I just figure that's what most girls would say."

Helga smirked, "It's ok, I'm not very good at the girl thing either. But sure. Let's talk. Tell me about your boss."

Eden rolled her eyes, "God, I hate him."

Helga raised an eyebrow. "But…you work for him."

"Science is a very…tricky very…expensive field. You create projects and projects get funding. A project to make me normal again would never get funding. Grayson offered me a job and in return I would get a lab, all the supplies I could ever ask for, and enough money to experiement to my heart's content. At first it was just robberies, but…he's been trying to make me kill people. Says my poison is a gift. I really don't want to hurt anybody. I mean, I have…even I went crazy for a little while." Eden paused with a sigh, "I can't be that person anymore. I'm not really Venom…but I'm not Eden, either. Just…somewhere in between."

Helga frowned, "So you don't really know that much about him?"

"Not really. And it's not from a lack of trying. I know he met Motley in an insane asylum. I don't know why he was in there or how she had anything to do with it. It's like the information just vanished off the face of the earth. All I know is that his parents died and his real name is Thaddeus Gammelthorpe."

Helga's eyes went wide, "Did you just say Thaddeus Gammelthorpe?"

"Yeah." Eden arched a brow, "You know him?"

"I once did."

**Yeah, I know I made Eden's identity kind of obvious, but I don't care. And Curly, of course, has to be the nut. Hehe. Oh, by the way, the next chapter will have a somewhat familiar face coming up. Riddle me this is you know who. Tehehe. **


	13. Chapter 13

"Wanna jump?" Eden asked, almost gleefully as she stood up on the edge of the crumbling building.

Helga's eyes went wide and she looked from Eden to the ground three stories below. "Are you insane?"

Eden smirked, "Cats always land on their feet."

"Not from this high." Helga snapped.

"It's just like bungee-" Eden stopped mid-sentence and leaned forward to peer at the ground below. Or rather who was on it.

Helga looked at Eden then at the mysterious figure entering the building.

"Get dressed." Eden said shortly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"She thinks she can embarrass us like this?" Curly snarled, pacing inches from the snaring jaws of Motley's hyenas.

Motley swallowed a lump in her throat as she scratched the neck of one of her four hyenas. "Well maybe she's with Eddy. She seemed kind of upset and he always seems to calm her down. Probably something about them both being geniuses or somethin'." Motley laughed lightly at her observation.

"Are you implying I'm not a genius?" He bellowed, the snarling hyenas the only thing keeping him from attacking her.

Motley's face paled and she shrunk against the wall, "Well, you're a different kind of genius."

He picked up a cracker from a bowl on the edge of his desk. He stared at it from behind his dark framed glasses. "When I get my hands on her." He crushed the cracker in his palm and slammed his fist against the desk.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

'_Where the hell are they?'_ Arnold thought from his binds. What was even holding them? There was no rope, no chains, yet they were all bound to the floor unable to move. Harold had been reduced to tears, screaming that he wanted his mommy. You would haave thought he'd grow out of that. Gerald grimaced, but did his best to not struggle. Eugene and Troy held each other's hands as they all stared at the man in black pacing back and forth over them.

Was he one of Eden's mysterious coworkers?

Arnold watched in terror as the man silently examined everything before kneeling next to him. He couldn't see his face. Half of it was covered in a green mask, but something in that man's eyes. Recognition? Confusion? Arnold couldn't place it.

He just hoped that whoever this man was, he hadn't gotten to Helga.

With a loud crack, the man winced and fell on his back. Helga leaped forward, sheathed in her disguise. Though her face was masked, her fury was obvious. "Don't you touch him!" she hissed.

The man looked at her for a few seconds before he laughed, "Well you're not very smart." He picked up his cane, a silver metal rod tipped with what looked like a question mark, a green gem embedded in the center.

Helga flailed the whip around him two times before speaking again. The man lowered his head, but did little else. "What makes you think you can judge my intellect?"

"Well, you're trying to fight me, which already makes you stupid since you don't even know who I am, and you've just told me a weakness of yours." His low voice was smooth and amused.

Helga leered at him, but before she could retort, vines coiled around her, binding her from her ankles to her shoulders. She was about to scream at Eden and call her a traitor before she saw that the stranger was getting the same treatment.

Eden stepped over Sid to stand between them, looking from one to the other with the same annoyed scowl. She placed her hands on her hips, her leafy green suit visible under the dirty white lab coat she'd donned.

"You're in serious shit." He snapped at Eden.

Rolling her eyes, she slid his cane out of his hand, ignoring his loud protesting. She swung the cane in her hand once before covering the jewel with her palm before tapping it against the ground. A sigh of relief rushed through the room as prisoners climbed onto their feet.

Gerald rubbed his head, "Man this is _not_ the way I wanted my bachelor party to end up."

Eden bit her lip, "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you somehow. He's a genius, but he's an idiot. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm."

"You know this lunatic?" Keith snarled, doing his best to not lunge at the masked man.

Eden narrowed her eyes, "He happens to be a good friend of mine."

"A good friend that's come to warn you that you're in serious shit." the masked man growled. "Let me out of here, Venom."

"They know I'm Eden, dude." she walked between them again. "Now, I'll let you out if you promise to not fight anymore. We're kind of allies. You guys trust me, right?"

"Still figuring that out." Helga snapped. "Let me out of here."

"You don't like being tied up with me?" his voice was playful and flirty and he ended the sentence with a wink and kiss that made Helga yelp with disgust.

Eden rolled her eyes, "You're not getting out if you start fighting again." And with that, she released them.

"So who are the freaks?" The man asked with a smirk. "Let me guess, you're Keith." He pointed at Keith, who scowled, "And the rest of you…know her somehow." He pointed at Helga.

"It's Cat Scratch." Helga snarled.

Eden opened her mouth to introduce her friend, but before she could, he placed a bare hand over her mouth, "Enigma."

Keith laughed, "Well there's not going to be much of an enigma. You've just been poisoned."

It was the stranger's turn to laugh, "My _name _is Enigma. And do you think I'm that stupid? I have an immunity to little Venom's poisons. With as much time as we've spent together it's really not surprising."

Arnold looked between Keith, Eden, Enigma, Helga, and the rest of the group. Keith had a look crossed between envy and disbelief. Enigma almost seemed…cocky. Helga was growing impatient. Eden was annoyed and embarrassed. Gerald didn't look like anything could surprise him anymore.

"You don't believe me?" Enigma challenged.

Eden could see where this was going and began backing away, "Don't you fucking do it."

Before she could get too far, Enigma grabbed her slight shoulders and forced his lips onto hers. Once she was able, she pulled away spitting and coughing dramatically. She bellowed, wiping off her mouth, "What the fuck is wrong with you? You can't just do that! Why did you just do that shit? Ugh! You pain in my ass."

"Because I came here to help save your pretty little tits." he snapped. "A kiss is a perfect form of payment."

Helga and the rest of the room raised their eyebrows and their gaze found Eden's chest.

Her green cheeks began to burn red and she crossed her arms, "My tits are in perfect proportion to my body type, thank you very much."

Enigma rolled his eyes, "Grayson knows that you've left his mansion. He also knows one of the vans is missing and that the hostages are gone. He'll be here in about fifteen minutes."

"How exactly do you know all this?" Helga snarled.

"He has his ways." Eden answered quickly, knowing that if she didn't then Enigma would go into a long explanation of his…methods. "Ok um…you hide them. I'll take care of that van."

"How are you planning on doing that?" Helga asked.

Eden shrugged, "Crush it and throw it out."

"You seem to think it's so simple." Keith said with a sneer.

Eden opened her mouth to explain, but Enigma took a step in front of her, a scowl on his face. "She's much more capable than you seem to think."

Helga looked at Eden, who rolled her eyes and buried her face in her hand. She gave Eden a smirk and Eden made a gesture implying that she was about to shoot herself.

"You don't even know her." Keith hissed.

Enigma laughed, "I know her better than you'll _ever_ know her."

"You make her sound like a completely different person." Keith growled.

"That's because she is!" Enigma applauded. "Well done. Finally a statement that might suggest you've received a grade school diploma."

"Enough!" Eden bellowed. "Everyone go with him before I turn you all into mulch!"

"Don't have to tell me twice." Sid said as he and Stinky rushed up to meet Enigma.

Keith glared as everyone crossed the room to get to him. "I'm not going."

Eden looked at Enigma, who was giving her a hopeful look. She just nodded and left the room. Enigma twirled his cane dramatically before doing something with the gem. Keith's eyes lost all thought and he trudged forward thoughtlessly and wordlessly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"We need to make it convincing." Enigma said as he tore the upper half of her costume to pieces.

Eden blushed and avoided his gaze. She didn't know where he'd hidden Helga and the rest of the boys, but he was the smartest person she'd ever met. Where ever they were, they were safe. She trusted him. "I know. Thank you for helping me, Eddy."

His gaze softened and a smile found his face as he tossed his mask aside. "You know I'd do anything to help you, Eden."

Her heart was fluttering as she noted he was gently stroking the space between her breasts. His cheeks were red now as well. Just being touched without killing was enough to make her happy. It had been a long time since she'd felt skin on hers and not had feared for the person caressing her. She was surprised at how much she'd missed him since he left. There was always Motley, but that was no cure for loneliness.

"Well, um, like I said we…we need to make it convincing." He began to roll one of her nipples between his thumb and index finger.

Eden bit her lip and did her best to not moan. "That means for you too."

He stepped forward and pressed the budge in his pants against her. "I don't think you've a lot of work to do. Even if it is just a cover up, a lot of guys wouldn't be hard for you to…entice."

She was about to make a remark as his unoccupied hand slid between her legs, inserting his fingers between her already wet folds as his thumb toyed with her clit. She was unable to harness the pleasured moan that escaped from her lips.

"They're coming." he breathed heavily into her ear.

"So am I." she moaned.

He freed his damp hand and ran his fingers though her hair. Eden didn't seem to mind that their were bodily fluids in her tresses. He picked her up and almost threw her on top of the metal table. As he slid inside of her, he moaned and shook violently as she screamed, writhing beneath him.

Why hadn't they done this when they were with each other every day? Why had they never explored each other when they were searching for answers? How could he have never seen it before?

He knew that he'd missed her in his absence, but it wasn't until he was thrusting himself violently into her as she screamed that he realized just how much.

He'd said they needed to make it convincing. It was all supposed to be an act. He'd never expected it all to feel so…real.

She said his name and pulled him closer and he lost his mind. He smothered her in kisses and whispered loving words into her ear, telling her how much he missed and loved her. They both heard the door open, but neither of them made any motion to stop.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Under the floorboards, everyone looked pretty uncomfortable. They could hear everything going on above them.

"Well they got a good act going on." Gerald said quietly.

Arnold nodded as his gaze kept flitting from Helga to Keith. Keith looked uncomfortable, but also angry. Arnold probably would have been angry too if he'd been hypnotized like that. At least Arnold thought Keith had been hypnotized. Whatever Enigma had done, it made it so that Keith's mind wasn't his, at least for the time being.

Helga hadn't moved since Enigma had hidden them there. Arnold slid next to her.

"Hey Helga, can I talk to you?" He started sheepishly.

She shook her head and his face faltered. "Please? I just want to say I'm sorry."

Helga shook her head again. "The door just opened…and there's a rat next to me." She whispered, trying to hide how terrified and disgusted she was by the rat.

Arnold smiled weakly, recalling how much she hated rats. He focused his eyes in the darkness and shooed the rat away. It hissed at first and Helga pulled his hand away just as the rat lunged for an attack. To her relief it scampered away.

Arnold opened his mouth to speak, but Helga covered his mouth and made a soft 'shh' sound.

Everyone obeyed her order of silence, listening and waiting.

**Well I hope you're all wondering who Enigma is. I don't think I made it too obvious. Anyway thanks for reading and don't forget to review cause sometimes your reviews give me ideas. And a big thanks to everyone who's been sticking with this story for a while and new readers too. Like to everyone. HoshiAM, Nept2uune, Madam Soprano, Sandra, Hanna, Stavros, Jopeth. I need to go to bed and my computer isn't just letting me copy and paste. You guys know who you are though. And if I've left anyone out I still love you, I just need to sleep. Don't forget to review (in case you haven't or you forgot). Much love and I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas. **


	14. Chapter 14

Motley screamed dramatically as she scampered behind Grayson, who's eyes were wide. They had made a loud enough entrance, but Eden and Edward made no motion of stopping. They hadn't even acknowledged Motley and himself.

"EDEN!" He screamed at last.

Eden glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. Edward glanced at them, but didn't bother to slow his pace. "What do you want?" Eden asked, ending the sentence in a moan before sitting up and pushing Eddy off of her, wrapping her old lab coat around her.

"Where have you been?" Grayson snarled.

"She's been with me, clearly." Edward answered, one of his arms snaking around her waist as he left a trail of light kisses down her neck, making her giggle.

Grayson's eyes narrowed, "For how long?"

Eden bit her lip and leaned into Edward. "Oh, not nearly long enough."

Motley crossed her arms with a playful smile on her face. "What, is our little riddle incapable of inducing an orgasm?"

Eden looked down and blushed, "Actually I was wondering if he was up to trying for six."

Motley's eyes went wide before she crossed her arms and glared at Grayson, "Why don't you try for six ever?"

"You're joking, right?" He snapped.

"Too much of a challenge, _Curly_?" Edward asked with a smirk.

"_Brainy!_" Grayson snarled.

Motley and Eden rolled their eyes. "Again with these weird nicknames." Motley exclaimed. "They don't make any sense! Eddy…well Eddy is pretty brainy, but boss, your hair isn't even Curly! Not even your-"

Eden winced and put her hands up, "Enough about curly hair. I don't want to think about his curly hair."

"Well just be glad that your boyfriend grew out of his wheezing and his low voice isn't so disgusting anymore." Grayson sneered.

Edward rolled his eyes, "We were kind of in the middle of something. Is there a reason for your rude intrusion?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. Our hostages, as well as one of the vans, is missing. What do you have to say for that?" Grayson snapped at Eden.

She raised a brow, "Uh, why would I want anything to do with them? I didn't even know any of them."

Edward sighed internally. Eden was a better actress than he had expected.

Motley, however, wasn't convinced, "Yeah you did. That Keith guy was with 'em." Grayson growled at Motley and she laughed nervously, shrinking away from him.

"Keith." Eden repeated. "What…wait why would you bring Keith into any of this? I haven't seen or heard from him in years. He's probably forgotten all about me by now. Is it his research or something?"

Grayson rolled his eyes, "I took him because he was getting close to finding you, actually. We wouldn't want him getting into trouble."

Eden's face darkened and she buttoned up her lab coat before approaching him. Even without wearing her five inch heels, she was still a head taller than him. For the first time since she'd met him, Grayson looked nervous, almost fearful. "Who _else_ that I know did you kidnap?" She hovered over him, her face inches from his.

Grayson swallowed a lump in his throat, "Just your old pen pal, Arnold Shortman."

Eden's face was furious, "ARNOLD? You brought _ARNOLD _into this? What the hell did he do? He was my friend and gave me a huge chunk of the extracts I needed for my work!"

"He's still been sending you plant samples." Grayson answered shortly.

"And you haven't given them to me?! Why I outta!" Eden began.

"Now Red," Motley began, doing her best to calm Eden. "I think we should just sit tight for a second and really…examine the situation."

Eden ignored Motley, "I think someone needs a kiss."

"Let's not get irrational!" Grayson exclaimed.

Edward wrapped an arm around Eden's waist and pulled her into him, softly caressing her chest through her coat. "Was that all you needed, Curly?" He asked, gently nipping at Eden's neck.

Grayson scowled at Edward. "Come on, Motley. I'll see you later tonight, Eden."

As Grayson and Motley made their way for the door, Edward bent Eden forward over a table and started thrusting again, paying to mind to the fact that Motley and Grayson were still there. "You'll see her when you see her." He said harshly between thrusts as Grayson and Motley left.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Well that was awkward." Eden finally said once she and Edward were sure that Motley and Grayson had gone. She pulled on her discarded jeans and Alice Cooper tee shirt. "The whole 'I love you I've missed you' thing was a good touch."

Edward's face went white. He had actually meant all those things he said. "Yeah, that's what I was going for." He said, doing his best to sound confident.

Eden pulled her hair out of her shirtand over her shoulder, "So where did you hide everyone?"

"Oh, right!" Edward rushed to the other side of the room and yanked up the floor.

"You couldn't have put us where we could see the show?" Sid complained.

"Yeah, was the sex really necessary?" Arnold inquired, climbing out after Sid.

Eden's face turned red. She hadn't realized that they would be able to hear everything.

Edward shrugged, "It was the fastest and most believable cover story I could think of. Why're you complaining? It obviously worked."

Helga jumped out and pushed herself in between Arnold and Edward. "Alright mister, you've got a lot of explaining to do."

Edward smirked, "You really are kind of stupid, aren't you?"

"Grayson is Thaddeus Gammelthorpe. He went by Curly until he graduated high school, at least as far as I know. And he called _you_ by a very familiar name." She rambled.

The rest of the boys looked confused. Aside from the constant moaning and screaming, they hadn't heard much of the conversation. Edward narrowed his eyes at her. "Do I know you?"

"Ya did." She replied shortly.

Gerald raised an eyebrow, "Do you seriously know this dude?"

"We all do." she answered. "Bitches, it's Brainy."

The boys gasped and Eden looked confused. "Does everyone know everyone except for me?"

"Wait a second!" Harold exclaimed. "What about your breathing problem? Brainy always had a breathing problem!"

Edward didn't look amused. "I grew out of it, you imbecile."

"But I was sure I heard them call you Edward." Stinky began. "Did ya change your name or somethin'?"

He rolled his eyes as he removed his mask. "My name is Edward Bryant. There was another Edward Bryant in my preschool class so I got the nickname Brainy. It just stuck. As for you." He grabbed Helga's arm and pulled her close, examining what he could see of her face.

"Eddy!" Eden said with a warning tone in her voice. "She and I are allies. You aren't gunna pull any mind tricks on her. I swear to god I'll kill you."

"He does anything to her and _I'll_ kill him." Arnold growled, taking a step forward.

Brainy smirked as he released her. "I don't need to do any of my tricks. You're Arnold Shortman, Gerald Johansson, Eugene Horowitz." He paused on Troy. "I have no idea who you are. Sid, Harold, Stinky, and you." He smirked and crossed his arms. "Helga Geraldine Pataki."

Helga couldn't hide the surprised look on her face. "Well that escalated quickly."

Eden shrugged, "It normally does. But what do we do now?"

"I say we go to my place." Brainy said with a smirk. "But I'm not sure if you'll all fit in the van. I have the tumbler in the back."

Suddenly, Eden looked excited. "I'll take it!" She exclaimed.

"I had a feeling you would." He pinched her cheek and Eden slapped him hard across the face.

"I reckon this is the strangest night I've ever lived." Stinky said.

Eden smirked, watching as Brainy rubbed his face where she's slapped him, "Oh it's about to get a lot stranger."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I don't like this." Gerald muttered to Arnold. Brainy had just locked them all in a large white room with no doorknob. It didn't look like there was any way for them to get out.

Arnold looked over his shoulder, a sense of relief and dread upon him when he realized that Helga wasn't with them. "I do too."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What the hell are you doing?" Helga snarled, following closely behind Brainy.

Eden knew what was going on so she didn't bother asking.

"You know how they can talk." Brainy answered, handing her and Eden and pair of sunglasses.

Helga gave the glasses a cautious look before glancing at Eden, who nodded. Helga put the glasses on and followed looked into the window that led down to the boys. Well, they were men now, but she'd always think of them as the boys she grew up with. She didn't believe that Brainy had a mansion, but he did. She also didn't believe all that she was seeing inside of it. Contraptions and devices she would never even know the use of. It was all like something out of a movie or a comic book.

Brainy pulled a microphone towards him, "If I could have your attention." Just as Sid, Stinky, Harold, Eugene, Troy, Gerald, and Arnold looked up, a blinding white light flashed. Brainy removed his glasses and Eden and Helga followed in suit. Everyone who had been exposed to the light stared blankly ahead, occasionally blinking. "Very good. Now, you all went to Gerald's bachlor party. You all enjoyed yourselves. None of tonight never happened. You were never kidnapped. You never met Eden or found out that Cat Scratch is Helga. You did meet me though. Not as Enigma, but as Brainy. And Gerald?"

Gerald looked up blankly, "Yes?"

"You invited me to your wedding. I'm thrilled to come."

Helga arched a brow at him. She didn't expect that Brainy would care about something like that.

"You got it, man." Gerald answered in a monotone voice. What the hell had that light _done_ to them?

"Excellent. And Arnold?" Arnold looked up. "Be good to Helga."

"I wouldn't think of being anything else to her." Arnold answered.

Helga's heart began fluttering and Eden released a long "Awwwwwwwww!"

Brainy smirked, "Good. She'll be waiting for you at home."

"Wait a second wait a second!" Helga began.

Brainy glared at her and shut off the microphone, "What?"

"There's still a lot I want to get to the bottom of and I can't do any digging at the boarding house with Arnold." she snapped.

Brainy got up and hovered over her, "There is always tomorrow for answers. You could have lost him tonight. Just be with him. You don't know what tomorrow is going to bring."

Helga scowled, but was silenced a looked down at her feet. It always seemed like Brainy knew everything about Helga's relationship with Arnold. It wasn't too surprising. He _had_ invaded her privacy a plethora of times while she was rambling on poetically about Arnold. "Fine. I guess I better get walking then."

"Well….I do still have the keys to the tumbler. I can give you a ride." Eden offered with a smile.

Brainy smirked, "That sounds like a great idea."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga screamed, her arms coiled tightly around a laughing Eden's waist. Eden let out a victorious whoop as the landed on the ground and continued down the road, buildings flying past them in a blur.

"This is it!" Helga bellowed, doing her best to hold tightly to Eden. She'd been on the back of motorcycles before, but none of them could ever compare to the tumbler. The thing was massive and went faster than anything Helga had ever ridden.

"This is what?" Eden yelled back, sliding the vehicle to the side, the wheels spinning sideways before righting themselves and propelling them forward.

"This is how I'm gunna die!" Helga shouted.

Eden laughed and pulled them to a stop in the alley behind Sunset Arms boarding house. Eden had to pry Helga's arms off of her. "Man, you'd think I'd scared a few of your lives out of you."

Helga climbed off of the tumbler. "I think you might have."

Eden chuckled and went to start the motorcycle, but Helga stopped her. Eden looked confused, but she stayed silent and waited for Helga to speak. "What is Brainy going to do to them?" She asked at last.

"I'll never get used to this 'Brainy' thing." Eden said with a sigh. "Ok, so here's the condensed version of the story. Eddy went to school to be a brain surgeon. He was going through really fast too, kind of like me in college. Anyway, he had…let's call it a fortunate accident. It was like he became a genius over night or something."

Helga scowled and crossed her arms, "What does this have to do with the weird light room?"

"Oh! That. Well as an aspiring neurosurgeon, Eddy knows a lot about the brain. What goes on in there, what area does what, and things like that. Things I wouldn't even be able to begin to explain. He did a lot of research and that white flash is…well…it's complicated. I know what it does, but not how it does it."

Helga sighed. "Just knowing what it does is fine, Eden."

"Oh. Sorry. I tend to overexplain things. It happens when you do what I do. The light is sort of like hynotism, only it's permanent. You get a full blast and everything Eddy says becomes your reality." Eden explained.

Helga looked horrified, "So Brainy has completely control over their minds forever?"

Eden laughed, "No no not forever. He only has sway over their memories and thoughts for about three minutes at most."

"Thank god." Helga sighed.

"Yeah, I've had a dose of the flash so you can say that again." Eden replied. "Besides, even if he could do that Eddy never would."

"You seem pretty sure of that." Helga challenged.

"Well we did work closely together for almost two years." Eden answered. "I should hope I know him pretty well."

"What do you mean by 'worked closely'?" Helga asked.

Eden shrugged, "You heard Eddy. You can get more answers tomorrow. I gotta go before someone sees me. The tumbler isn't exactly a vehicle you want to be caught on while it's parked."

Helga nodded, "Alright. I'll see you later then."

Helga leaped up onto the fire escape as the tumbler roared to life. In a flash, Eden was gone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga was almost asleep in Arnold's bed when he finally opened the door and came into his room. In a flash she was out of his bed and in his arms.

Arnold laughed lightly and held her tightly, his lips pressing against her forehead. "You've missed me I see."

"I was just worried about you." She muttered into his shirt.

Arnold laughed lightly, "Why? You didn't think I'd fall in love with someone else, did you?"

He kissed her lips gently and she stared at him in disbelief. Did he really not remember anything that had happened?

Arnold noticed her expression and his face sobered. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and led him to the bed. She sat him down, keeping his hands in hers. "I'm Cat Scratch, and whatever you think happened tonight, didn't."

**I am the updating queen! Bow down…no? Ok. : ( Next chapter is gunna be all Motley, Grayson/Curly, and Helga and Arnold. I think they need some more chapter time so look forward to that. And don't forget to review! But especially don't' forget that I love you. But mostly don't forget to review. **


	15. Chapter 15

Carlson was oddly perky, despite the fact that Grayson was scowling, screaming, and throwing a tantrum just a few rooms away.

There was always something about music that just…moved her. She had been involved in more music back when she was in school than almost anything. All of her extracurricular classes were centered around music. She didn't sing much anymore, but she had a voice that could bring the house down. In high school she always got a female lead role in all the musical productions, playing Sandy in Grease, Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and many more. In college she got bigger and more impressive roles, varying from Eponine in Les Miserables to Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. But she wasn't limited to musical theater. For about a year she sang and wrote songs in a rock band called Raining Fire. However, with theater and school she decided to just go solo, playing piano and guitar in coffee shops every now and then.

However, what was making her perky was the fact that the new Ke$ha song, Warrior, was playing in the background. For once, she wasn't clad in her green and black jester suite. Instead, she was dressed in a pair of leopard print fluffy boot slippers, black yoga pants, and a sweatshirt bearing the purple and white husky of the University of Washington.

She bumped into Bruce and squeaked in surprise. "Hey Brucey!" She greeted him enthusiastically.

Bruce only stared down at her and grunted once.

Carlson pouted and planted her hands on her hips. "I've known you for almost two years now and you still haven't spoken a word to me. What's your deal?"

Bruce glared at her and walked away. Eponine, one of her four hyenas, growled at him as he walked away. Carlson scratched behind Tina's ear and immediately the animal calmed down. With a sigh, she plopped down on the ground, waiting patiently for her pets to gather around her. Eponine pushed her nose into Carlson's lap, Marius curled up next to her feet, Valjean stretched out against her right leg, and the runt, Gavroche, leaned up against her back. Les Miserables had always been her favorite musical so it seemed fitting to name her 'babies' after her favorite characters from the story. She'd been planning on naming her actual children after those characters anyway.

However, with the way that Grayson was it wouldn't be too unlikely if Carlson never had any children.

She sighed and rubbed Gavroche's ear. "Ya know, Eponine?" The only female of the hyenas looked up at the mention of her name. "Three years ago I never would have thought I'd end up here."

Her door slammed open and Thaddeus stormed in. The hyenas got up and surrounded Carlson, growling fiercely. "Get dressed. We have to go and pick something up."

Carlson pouted, "But it's almost four in the morning."

He glared at her and without another word, she moved to put her jester suite back on.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Helga, do you realize how crazy this sounds?" Arnold asked as he paced the floor in front of her. "I mean…you're saying that everyone was kidnapped by Curly tonight."

Helga's face didn't falter, "That's right."

"And that Eden is some kind of…super genetic plant woman." He continued.

"I guess that's one way of putting it." She retorted.

"And Brainy is some kind of mad scientist that messes with peoples' brains." It was clear from Arnold's tone that he didn't believe her.

Helga's eyes narrowed, "Oh I really wish I hadn't let Brainy flash you. Explaining all this shit to you once was more than enough."

Arnold looked confused, "Brainy _flashed_ me?"

She rolled her eyes, "Not like that, shit for brains."

Arnold's phone started buzzing on his bedside table. He glanced at it and then back to Helga, as if he were asking her for permission. She rolled her eyes and fell back onto his bed. Arnold took that as a signal that it was ok to answer.

"Hey Gerald, what's going on? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

Arnold didn't have to relay the message to Helga. She heard everything perfectly. Arnold was still distracted with the phone call when she vanished into his closet to change back into her catsuit.

"What do you mean Phoebe's been kidnapped?" Arnold almost shouted.

As fast as she was in the closet she was out again, clad in black leather and masked for whatever was going to happen.

Arnold's jaw dropped, "Oh god, it's true."

Helga snatched the phone out of Arnold's hand. "Alright Gerald-o, listen up and listen up good. Lock your doors, bolt the windows, don't let anyone in, get some mace or something. You've got an old aluminum bat, use that. Don't worry about Pheebs, I'll take care of it."

"_Helga? What the-"_

She cut him off before he could get much farther, "Just do it!" She hung up on him and kissed Arnold fiercely. "Same goes for you."

"What? Helga, wait!" He shouted as she began climbing the ladder to his roof.

"I'm not just sitting here with Phoebe in trouble. Hole up and stay safe." She opened his window and climbed outside.

"But Helga!"

She poked her head back in his room, "Just do it, ok?"

Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat. "Be careful. Please?"

Helga smirked at him before applying her red lipstick, which she thought made her costume complete. "Don't worry about me. I still have eight lives yet."

"I'm being serious." He chided.

"So am I." She retorted before vanishing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Motley couldn't help but look distressed as she stared at the tiny Asian woman Grayson had insisted they kidnap. Grayson always told her everything when it came to his plans. Well…almost everything. She knew what was going to happen, but for the first time…she didn't know why.

And Phoebe had nothing to do with it. Aside from being the fiancé of one of the young men they had kidnapped earlier. It just seemed low.

Perhaps everything Grayson did was low and her feelings simply clouded her perception.

The hyenas nipped at Phoebe's heels at Grayson's command. Grayson could get her hyenas to attack, but when it came down to it, Eponine only obeyed Motley, and that gave her a higher position in the animals' eyes.

Eponine stared at her male counterparts, looking completely bored and waiting for Motley to give her the command to join in.

Grayson watched Phoebe coil her feet up closely to her chest, tears running down her face as strangled screams fought to break through her gag.

"You seem stressed, Motley." Grayson said in an almost taunting manner. "Put your feet up. And why don't you let Eponine join in?"

Eponine growled at Grayson at the mention of his name, but silenced when Motley extended her open hand, face down. "She didn't do anything, boss." Motley said weakly. "It just doesn't seem right."

"It'll get the work done, that's all that matters." Grayson answered sharply.

She glared at the ground and stood up. Motley put her fingers in her mouth and whistled a shrill high note. All the hyenas followed her as she left the room.

"Hey!" Grayson yelled, "We were having fun in here!"

Motley turned around to glare at Grayson. Her eyes met Phoebe's and her face faltered, "I think you've had enough fun." And with that she left, ignoring Grayson's taunting shouts from within the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Mom! Dad! I did it! I'm going to be Christine in Phantom!" Carlson shouted as she bounded into her parents flat. "I'll have to dye my hair again, but it'll be worth it!" _

_The grin on her face faltered. The cars were in the garage. The lights were on. _

_Something was wrong._

"_Mom? Dad?" she called out cautiously. _

_As she stepped into the living room, she screamed loudly at the sight she was met with. Before she got too far, a crude knotted gag was slipped into her mouth. She tried to scream and run, but she couldn't. _

_Her attacker's breath lingered on her neck, making her skin crawl. "Looks like we've got ourselves a little treat." The man's tone changed. "Can't we just let her go? We did enough to the old man and woman?" His tone became harsh again, "She's a reward for all your hard work."_

_Carlson couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man began crying, "I don't want a reward. It's wrong." His tone changed again, "It's not wrong! It had to be done!" _

_Carlson had never been more terrified in her life than she was as the man fought with himself before binding hands and feet and hanging her from the staircase banister. His constantly alternated between telling her that she was a gift from god to thank them for all their hard work and apologizing, saying that 'he' would kill him if he didn't do what he said. _

_Carlson sobbed and bit down on her gag as he forced himself upon her from behind. Blood rushed from between her legs as he stole her virginity. _

_Somewhere along the line, Carlson lost her will to live. She wished he would slit her throat, put a bullet in her head, anything. Anything but be forced to endure this hell. _

_She felt like she was in a dream when the FBI came in. Maybe it was just one of her mother's memories sneaking into Carlson's brain. A very serious looking man called her attacker by his name and tried to convince him to stop, but he paid it no mind and began making his already painful movements more sharp and jagged. Carlson felt cold steel against her throat, but before he could move the knife, a gun was fired. A bullet buried itself in his forehead and he fell to the ground, dead._

_An agent named Lily rushed forward and cut Carlson free while the rest of the team searched the house, verifying her parents' deaths. Carlson fell into Lily's arms and wept._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga held up her whip, ready to attack the hyenas as they inched closer to her. She cussed in her mind. She really wished that Eden would have told her that Curly had traded in guard dogs for guard hyenas. Having had a brief obsession with the animals in middle school, Helga was brutally aware of just how easy it would be for one of them to crush her bones in their powerful jaws.

Only three of them approached her, the others lingering behind them. Helga didn't understand.

"SIT!" somebody yelled from the shadows.

The hyenas instantly obeyed, looking somewhat disappointed.

Helga didn't relax her stance when a figure emerged into the shadows. If it was Eden she would have been able to smell it. No. This one probably spent a little too much time around the hyenas, their scent strong on her. Helga couldn't tell the colors of her suit, but she recognized the girl's outfit as one of a jester or a harlequin clown.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just have them attack me?" Helga hissed. "Not that I'm complaining."

The girl smirked, her nearly black lipstick contrasted against the white paint she had on her face. "You seem to think you know what I want."

Helga relaxed, only a little, and arched an eyebrow at the other masked girl. "Well my intentions are pretty obvious."

"Of course they are. You must be Cat Scratch." The girl sounded oddly optimistic and…happy. Maybe it was part of the clown motif, Helga didn't know.

"Is it really so obvious?" Helga asked playfully.

The girl in the jester suit extended a gloved hand, "You can call me Motley."

Helga cautiously shook her hand. "Motley? Where does that name come from?"

Motley shrugged, "Well it's not my actual name. Not really anyway. Motley means parti-colored."

Helga only arched a brow in return.

"You know like a motley fool." Motley continued, not very happy that she had to explain this.

Still, nothing.

With a sigh, Motley said, "A motley fool is a clown used to entertain kings back in the middle ages."

Helga just shrugged, "The only thing I really ever paid attention about in the middle ages was the literature."

Motley rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

Helga crossed her arms, "You're supposed to be stopping me, right?"

"Actually, assuming you're here to save this Phoebe girl, I want to help you." Motley answered.

Helga looked surprised. "Really?"

Motley held out her fist and opened her hand, revealing a key hanging from her middle finger. "She's in an empty sitting room two floors down, the room between the elephant tusk and the big ugly ancient Egyptian cat statue. Thaddeus is going to want to go to bed in about half an hour. He'll leave Bruce to watch the girl and wait for you. _Don't_ mess with Bruce."

"Why not?" Helga asked skeptically.

"Did you read comic books growing up?" Motley asked.

Helga shrugged, "Yeah, all the time."

"Thank god. That'll make it a lot easier to explain. You remember Captain America and The Hulk?" Motley continued.

"Of course." Helga answered the question as if it were the most stupid thing she'd ever heard. "Everyone's heard of The Hulk and Captain America."

Motley was about to retort, but she shook her head, reminding herself to not get distracted. "Ok, what did those two have in common?"

"They were supposed to be like super soilders or something." came the answer.

"Good. That's what Bruce is. Grayson has some kind of…thing going on in Bruce's brain that makes him like a slave to Grayson. He'll listen to me, but he won't obey me. Hell, he won't even talk to me. Either way, if he gets his hands on you you're as good as dead. I'll figure out a way to distract him exactly three minutes after the hour. You get in, get the girl, and get out of here." Motley jutted her hand forward, as if to remind Helga of the key that was still hanging there.

Helga took the key and turned it between her fingers. "I don't understand…why are you helping me?"

Despite Motley's mask, the pain and sadness upon her face was as clear as crystal. "I don't know. I guess…well…let's just say that I'm slowly starting to remember what I wanted to do with my life and this was never it. I guess I've just been running from the past too long."

Helga couldn't believe her luck! Did this mean that she had two of Curly's employees on her side? She didn't want to push it, but she needed to know. "So…you're going a-wall is what you're saying?"

Motley narrowed her eyes at Helga and took a menacing step forward. Despite the fact that she was at least a head shorter than Helga, the girl still looked fierce. Then again, that could have been because of the pack of hyenas lingering at her heels. "I know what it feels like to be tied up and defenseless while a crazy man laughs at you. What I'm doing tonight is for Phoebe. What I do in the future…well I guess I'll let you know."

Helga nodded. Motley was certainly specific. Helga knew better than to probe for more details. "I understand. Either way, thank you."

Motley shrugged and whistled at her hyenas. They yipped and yowled as they rushed down the path in front of her, disappearing once again.

Helga smirked and toyed with the key Motley had given her. "Maybe Curly isn't as good a villain as he seems." She thought aloud before proceeding to find the room between the big ugly ancient Egyptian cat and the elephant tusk.

**Wow, I'm killing this fic, in a good way of course. Don't forget to review! **


	16. Chapter 16

Helga's eyes grew considerably wider when they landed upon Bruce. _'He most certainly looks like he could kill me…also looks kind of familiar. I don't think I ever knew a Bruce.'_

Bruce hadn't noticed she was there. His gaze didn't leave Phoebe, who was suspended in the center of the room, tightly bound up. It was clear that she had been crying, but had stopped a while ago.

Helga fought the urge to tap her fingers against the vent she had chosen to hide it. It was hard to not get impatient. She was even beginning to doubt that this Motley person was even going to cause this said 'distraction'.

Just as Helga gave up on Motley, a commotion broke out down the hall and a familiar voice yelled out, "Muffin!" It was meek and almost defenseless at first, but when Motley didn't get an answer, her voice became harsh and commanding. "MUFFIN!"

From the next room someone moaned, "Bruce! Go see what she needs." In a very lazy and tired voice.

Bruce stared from the wall and back to Phoebe then back to the wall again. Motley screamed once more and Bruce didn't hesitate to leave the room and see what Motley was screaming about. Phoebe looked up lazily, but didn't think anything of it.

Helga smirked, "Little clown girl followed through. What do ya know." She jumped down behind Phoebe, shushing her friend when she started to struggle against her bonds and tried to say some words that were drowned out by the gag. "Calm down." Helga almost snapped, "I'm springing you."

Helga was surprised when Phoebe managed to twist her arm behind her back and shove her into the wall. It was easy to forget that Phoebe was a master martial artist and quite the fencer due to her petite physicque. "Why should I trust you?" Phoebe snarled.

Helga glared over her shoulder and Phoebe, "Haiboy is Ice Cream."

Phoebe's mouth fell open, "He-" The tiny Asian woman began before Helga forced a hand over Phoebe's mouth.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" Helga recommended, pertly.

Phoebe nodded.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" Curly screamed as he watched Cat Scratch and Phoebe get into one of his cars. He turned to Bruce, Motley, and some of the grunts. His eyes fell on Motley, full of fire, anger, and perhaps even hate. "IT'S ALL YOU'RE FAULT!" He screamed as his fist collided with her face, sending the tiny girl to the ground with a loud crash.

Motley narrowed as she wiped the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. For the longest time, she was certain that all relationships worked this way. It was normal. Though she knew better, that was what she told herself. Love was going through hell for the little moments that made it worth while. Those little moments hardly existed anymore. She climbed onto her feet and pushed her way to the front of the group, going out of her way to shove Thaddeus especially hard.

"This isn't my fault. I'm going for a walk." She snapped, climbing down the stairs into the garage.

Thaddeus's mouth fell open. He'd never seen Motley act like this. What had gotten into her? "Hey!" He called after her, "Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" Motley bellowed back.

One of the grunts appeared at his side with a dart gun in hand. Thaddeus nodded. He would take care of Motley later. It wouldn't be long before she came crawling back into his arms and begging for forgivness. That was always how things ended. Thaddeus nodded, "Take them out."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

An alert dinged on Eddy's security system and he looked up at it from his work, then to Eden, who was also busy doing research, who shrugged.

With a shrug, Brainy went to the security system and found himself face to face with a small and scared looking Asian girl. He didn't look amused. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" He asked shortly.

"I'm sorry." The young woman stuttered, "My friend told me to-"

She was interrupted by a familiar face crawling into view. Helga definitely looked worse for wear, and angry as always, "Let me in, Brainy." she snarled.

"Brainy?" Phoebe repeated, but by the time the words were out of her mouth, the gate had opened and Eddy and Eden were already halfway down the steps to meet them.

Phoebe stared dumbly at Eden and Brainy as they helped Helga inside. Helga somehow managed to hand the green woman the dart she'd been shot with and the green woman began rambling about what was in the dart, how poisonous it was, and how much time she had to act.

Eden pulled Helga away and Brainy pulled Phoebe aside, looking deeply into her eyes, "I need you to listen to me very intently, Phoebe. Call Arnold and Gerald. Say these words exactly." He handed a sheet to paper to her. "Say these words exactly. Then tell them that Brainy is coming to get them."

Phoebe opened her mouth to ask a question, but before she could, Brainy had already left. With a sigh used to attempt calming, Phoebe stepped towards the phone and dialed Gerald's number first.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"_Sugar, you're letting him get too close." Rita chided Carlson. "It's supposed to be his therapy, not yours."_

_Carlson sighed and did her best to not roll her eyes. "Don't worry, Rita, it's fine. If I let him think he has control over the meetings-"_

_Rita didn't let the blond intern finish, "He _does_ have control over the meetings. That boy is sweet talking you into a corner. I wouldn't be surprised if you have feelings for him."_

"_But I _don't_ have feelings for him." Carlson retorted, almost too quickly. "I think I'm making some progress with him." _

"_Child, you can't make progress with him. _He's_ the one making progress with _you_. Next thing you know your meetings are going to consist of him ravaging you on the couch." _

_Carlson sighed and shook her head, "No they won't, Rita. I'm not his target. Remember, he likes black hair and blue eyes. They were all a lot taller than me too."_

"_Honey, I just don't want him to hurt you." Rita said, brushing a lock of hair away from Carlson's face. _

_Carlson laughed and shook her head, "Rita, I'm a black belt in four different martial arts _and_ I can hold my own with any kind of fire arm, even a bow and arrow. He can't hurt me. Besides, it's just therapy. What's the worst that could happen?"_

_Little did Carlson know that just two days later Rita and the rest of the asylum's staff would be dead, save for Carlson. It was sill a blur to her how Thaddeus had managed to convince the patients to work for him. After that, there was only one thing that was clear to her. Carlson and Thaddeus weren't players in the game anymore. Instead, Motley and Grayson had to come out of the woodwork. _

_But it made him happy. Wasn't that all that mattered?_

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson sighed as she burried her hands into her pockets, walking slowly down the streets of Hillwood. How had she let herself get wrapped up into Thaddeus in the first place?

Thinking back, she realized that Rita was right. Carlson trusted her feelings more than his history. It got to a point that she didn't believe it.

But Thaddeus had killed those girls. He had gone out of their way to dress them up and style them to resemble someone, but she didn't know who. A long lost lover, perhaps? His mother? Someone who had hurt him in the past. She thought back to his record, recalling it had mentioned sexual assalut. That made his mother less likely, but still possible.

A drop of rain fell upon her nose, causing her to tilt her head back and look at the darkened sky.

Much to even her surprise, she laughed.

Her laugh echoed off the tightly knit buildings and she stood still for a moment before releasing a long 'shhhhhh' sound. The sound came back to her and she smirked. "You'd never know such a busy place would have such good acoustics."

She took a few steps forward, blissfully unaware of the stranger staring at her from the open window of his apartment. Was this girl insane? Why was she walking out _alone_ so late at night…or early in the morning.

Carlson hummed a few notes to herself before biting her lip and looking around to see if there was anyone else on the street. She bit her lip and smiled when she saw no one. She cleared her throat and positioned herself before she began to sing.

"Don't you fret, monsieur Marius. I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now. You're here. That's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe. And you will keep me close. And rain will make the flowers grow."

Her observer's mouth fell open. This girl sang like an angel. Her voice didn't struggle to reach the high notes and it seemed a flat note was an impossible feat for her strong voice. She belonged on Broadway or in a studio recording an album. He swallowed a lump in his throat nervously. He knew the words of the song, having done some theater before going to college. The way she paused made him feel like she was waiting for him to sing back to her, like she knew he was there.

Carlson smiled and began to move forward, surprised at how singing a few simple words could lift her spirit's the way it did. Why had she stopped singing in the first place?

She stopped dead in her tracks when an unfamiliar voice echoed down the street.

"But you will live 'Ponine, dear god above. If I could close your wounds with words of love."

Carlson spun around a few times looking for whoever was playing to Marius to her duet. Finally she sang, "Just hold me now and let it be. Shelter me, comfort me."

There was still some hesitation on the stranger's part. He could hardly believe that they were doing this. It was like something out of a musical or a romantic comedy. "You would live a hundred years if I could show you how. I won't desert you now."

Carlson didn't hesitate, but kept searching for the song's second half. His voice was good, strong, but shaky. He was nervous. Still, their voices went together very well, his more gritty sound contrasting with her melodic. "The rain can't hurt me now. This rain will wash away what's passed. And you will keep me safe. And you will keep me close. I'll sleep in your embrace at last. The rain that brings you here is heaven blessed. The skies begin to clear and I'm at rest. A breath away from where you are…I've come home. From so far."

Then she saw him. At least his silhouette. She couldn't see his face, but she didn't care. She grinned at him and his stomach erupted with dancing butterflies.

"So don't you fret, monsieur Marius."

"Hush a bye, dear Eponine."

"I don't feel any pain."

"A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now."

He smiled, "I'm here."

"That's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe. And you will keep me close. And rain."

"And rain."

"Will make the flowers."

"Will make the flowers…grow."

Carlson smiled up and him and curtsied using her trench coat before moving to leave.

"Wait!" He called to her, almost jumping out of his window.

She stopped and turned to see him again, "Yes, monsieur Marius?"

He laughed nervously and pulled at his collar, "I'd like to see you again."

Carlson smirked and couldn't resist the urge to sing, "Oh god for shame, you do not even know my name."

"You sing like an angel." He said, almost dreamily.

Carlson's cheeks turned red. "Oh…um…thank you."

"Please let me see you again. I'll…I'll even buy roses to toss at your feet if you'll sing again."

Carlson laughed at this, "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow at three in the morning. And don't skimp on those roses."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How's Helga doing?" Brainy asked as he walked into the lab, Arnold and Gerald in tow. He'd had had Phoebe tell them the trigger phrase, which reversed their mind wipe, for the time being at least.

Phoebe, who's cheeks were still stained with tears, began wailing and threw herself into her fiance's arms. Gerald stroked her hair and asked if she was ok repeatedly, his eyes lingering on Arnold, who's face had gone white.

Eden looked at Brainy, swallowing a lump in her throat and nervously playing with a strand of her crimson hair. "Helga…well…I…had she gotten here ten minutes before…well…the poison did it's work too fast."

Arnold looked sick, "What?"

"I'm so sorry." she said taking a step towards Arnold who jumped back.

"Then you killed her!" Arnold screamed.

"What? No I didn't!" Eden began backing away.

"Poison is your thing! Who else would use poison?" Gerald tried to calm his friend down, but Arnold wasn't having any of it.

"Helga was poisoned when she got here." Eden tried to explain calmly.

"I OUGHTA KILL YOU!" Arnold bellowed.

"Arnold!" Brainy shouted, "Calm down! Eden was here with me when Helga showed up with Phoebe. It wasn't her."

"THEN I'LL KILL YOU TOO!" Arnold lunged for Brainy, but a familiar body clad in black sprung out of the shadows and knocked him on his back.

"Calm your tits, hairboy, they're telling the truth. And I can't speak for Brainy, but Eden just has to touch you to kill you so don't do anything stupid."

Arnold's mouth fell open. "Is this some kind of a sick joke?"

Phoebe and Eden both stared at Helga as if she were a UFO. "What?" Eden exclaimed. "That's…what? You were…dead! You weren't breathing, no pulse, all your vitals were…what?"

Phoebe slowly approached, "I'm going to have to concur, Eden. Helga was…dead, but…how?"

Helga shrugged and pushed herself off of Arnold before yanking him onto his feet, "People seem to think I'm not serious when I say I've got nine lives. Well…had nine lives. I have seven now."

"So you were really dead?" Arnold asked, almost breathlessly.

"Doi. Haven't you been listening?" Helga snapped.

Before she could say anything else, he pulled her into his arms. "If you die again I'll kill you." He muttered into her ear, kissing her hair.

Helga laughed lightly and relaxed into his embrace, "Well lucky for me I have a few lives to spare then."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson was still humming like a lovesick schoolgirl when she returned to the mansion. She heard Thaddeus and Bruce were having. She'd only heard Bruce speak when it was with the boss. Naturally, she was curious as to what they were saying, but she wished she never overheard their conversation.

"Shouldn't we try and find her?" Bruce asked nervously, despite the fact that he could rip Thaddeus in half as easily as she could break a toothpick.

Thaddeus shook his head and waved his hand from his seat in front of the fire. "She'll come back. She always does."

"I like her." Bruce said sheepishly, looking down and twisting his hands together. "She's always nice to me. Why can't I talk to her?"

Thaddeus rolled his eyes, "Do I have to explain everything to you, Wolfgang? You'd think you mind would have improved after your surgery. But then again, you were nothing but an alcoholic coke addict."

Bruce looked down, shamefully. "She wouldn't like me?"

"She might. Stupid does like stupid. She has sway over the grunts though. That's why she needs to keep having feelings for me." Thaddeus replied harshly.

"But I like her. And you want to kill her after the heist." Bruce said slowly.

"I won't need her anymore then. Maybe if you don't mess anything stupid I'll let you have her as a toy." Thaddeus sounded amused.

"But she's my friend." Bruce replied.

"You don't have friends, Wolfgang." Thaddeus spat.

Carlson decided she'd heard enough and snuck away from the door. He was planning on killing her. Her eyes narrowed as she ran for her room. _"Two can play at that game, Muffin." _she thought to herself.

**Yes yes, Bruce is Wolfgang. That's really all the backstory he's gunna get though so…I'm sorry. And who is Carlson's mystery man? Mwhahaha! Don't forget to review. :D**


	17. Chapter 17

"YOu're sure you're ok with everyone staying here?" Helga asked as she and Brainy walked Eden to the door.

Eden smirked, "It's smarter than taking them back any time soon."

Brainy nodded, "Eden's right, Helga. _Relax_. I've got more hiding places than I know what to do with. That and I don't think Curly would be dumb enough to try anything on me."

"And why's that?" Helga challenged.

"Oh boy, I'm outta here before you two open _that_ can of worms." Eden stepped out the door and waved to them over her shoulder.

"Goodnight my princess!" Brainy called after her.

Helga laughed when Eden responded with both her middle fingers thrust high in the air. Brainy shook his head with a smirk that instantly vanished once he saw the look Helga was giving him. "What?"

"You _like_ her." Helga teased.

Brainy glared at her as he shut and locked the door, "Well yeah, she's one of my friends, of course I like her."

"You know what I mean, Brainster."

"It's complicated." He said as he began climbing the stair to where they'd left Gerald, Phoebe, and Arnold.

"I'm nocturnal. There's plenty of time for explaining." Helga stated.

Brainy raised a brow at her. "What are you talking about?"

"How'd you get wrapped up in this mess?" She snapped.

Brainy sighed, "That. I was afraid you'd ask. Alright, fine, I'll tell you. I was working on my degree in neuroscience, working as a DJ at a club called Mice Of Men at nigh to pay the bills and-"

Helga interrupted him, "You still DJ?"

Brainy glared at her, "Shut up. Anyway, I was doing an internship with Doctor Richard Anderson. I don't expect you to know who is. Doctor Anderson was trying to figure out something that could…enhance the mind. It was intended for undoing…mental diseases. You know like Parkinson's. Had that been a success then Doctor Anderson would have wanted to explore further uses, such as helping with people who are completely insane. Much like Curly, as I'm sure you remember."

Helga nodded, "Twisted little freak."

Brainy nodded, "Quite."

"Let me guess. You got exposed to something you shouldn't have." She said, almost sarcastically.

Brainy smiled and nodded, "And became a super genius, yes."

Helga frowned, "But how'd you get mixed up with Curly?"

"Ah. Well, as you can imagine, Doctor Anderson wasn't very happy when everything in his work suddenly made more sense to me than it did to him. I told him what he was doing wrong and how to fix it and as you can imagine he didn't like that, so he fired me. Curly found me in a bar drinking away the last of my savings and asked me to join his merry band of freaks." He chuckled lightly at this.

"So who else is in the band of freaks? I mean there's you, Eden, that…Motley girl-"

It was Brainy's turn to cut Helga off, "You met Motley?"

Helga nodded, "Yeah. If it wasn't for her then I probably wouldn't have been able to get Pheebs out of there."

Brainy shook his head, like he was trying to clear it. "Let me get this straight…._Motley_ helped _you_?"

"Yeah…is that so weird?" Helga looked confused.

Brainy smirked and shook his head, "It's great is what it is."

"What do you mean?" Helga asked.

"Motley's story is the saddest of all of ours." Brainy began. "She went through a lot in her life, more than anyone twice her age should have to go through. Before I left she used to…confide in me. Eden was always there for when the two of them needed 'girl time', but she's not an easy person to open up."

"If her past is so sad then why does she dress up as a clown?" Helga asked bluntly.

With a shrug Brainy said, "Maybe it's because she needs something to stay happy for. She's madly in love with Curly…or at least she was."

"Hold up." Helga said before he moved through the door. "She's…in love with _him_? Why? I mean just judging by her figure alone she could already do better."

"She was his shrink." Brainy said.

"_What_?" Helga exclaimed.

Brainy's expression suddenly saddened, "Had her parents not been murdered she probably would have been a singer."

"Oh…well that's depressing." Helga said, unsure of what else to say.

Brainy nodded, "Yeah, especially since she's got a voice that could make angels cry." Helga raised a brow at him and he shrugged, "What? She and I did some samples together. Is that really so shocking?"

"I guess not. But why is it such a big deal that she would help me?" Helga asked.

Brainy smiled, "It means that there's a chance she's finally waking up."

"Huh?"

"Let's just say that if anyone gets to kill Curly, Motley's going to be advanced to the front of the line if she wants it."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson growled and buried herself back into her pillow when her curtains were opened, causing light to flood into the room. Eponine, Gavroche, and Marius tried to climb over Valjean, who was still asleep, to snap their powerful jaws at Bruce, who kept his distance.

"I'm sleeping, fuck off." She managed to say as she pulled her blanket over her head.

"I'm sorry, my sweet, I just wanted to make sure that you were safe." Thaddeus said, his voice as smooth as butter. "You had me worried with the way you ran away last night."

Carlson was glad that her blanket's covered up the scowl on her face. _'Only worried because you wouldn't get to kill me yourself.'_ She thought to herself coldly. _'Calm down, Carlson. Act like you've never acted before.'_ She sat up and rubbed her eyes, yawning widely. "I'm fine, muffin, just tired. Let me go back to sleep now, k?"

Thaddeus smiled and brushed a lock of her messy hair from her face, "Of course, my pet." He kissed her lips and Carlson did her best to melt into the kiss, fighting off the urge to punch him in the face. After all, it only served him right.

Before he could leave the room, Carlson said, "Hey boss?"

Thaddeus looked back at her, smiling sweetly. "Yes, angel?"

She twisted her hands together nervously, "Would it be ok if Red and I went shopping later? You know, just to blow off some steam?"

'_What the hell was I thinking?'_ she thought to herself, _'I shouldn't have to ask him for permission!…Stay cool, Carlson. Nothing has changed.'_

Thaddeus smiled, "Of course, darling. Now sleep."

Carlson sighed and fell back into her bed, dozing off almost immediately. After all, Eden would back her up. All she had to do was tell her what was going on. Besides, Eden and Eddy had always been the ones telling her that she could do better than Thaddeus. That he didn't deserve her. He didn't really love her. He was just using her.

She could have kicked herself for not realizing it sooner. But still, Eddy and Eden would be on her side.

And then there was Cat Scratch.

As Carlson fell asleep, she smiled at the thought of the ever growing list of foes against Thaddeus.

And he didn't even know it yet.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Gerald stretched and yawned, keeping one arm around Phoebe, who was nestled against his chest. "Man, what a crazy-" he stopped talking and took a look around. Helga and Arnold were curled up together a few yards on a mass of pillows on the ground and Brainy was sound asleep in a recliner. Further investigation placed him and Phoebe on a pullout bed . "I guess it wasn't a dream."

An alarm was raised and in an instant, everyone else was awake. He held tightly to Phoebe, who was still half asleep. Arnold shouted in surprise and Helga crouched over him protectively. Brainy jumped out of his chair and ran to one of the many computers in the room where he began typing in codes, pulling up security images, until finally a familiar laugh rose over the alarm.

Brainy finally got the noise to stop and turned to glared at the small blonde woman standing in the doorway. She was burdened with many shopping bags, her pale blonde tresses hanging loosely over her shoulders.

"Still don't have the best security I see." she said playfully as she shoved her purchases into Brainy's arms. "And what have we here?" she asked looking at Helga, Gerald, Arnold, and Phoebe.

"Listen, Carlson." Brainy began to explain.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "What's this? No affection?"

Brainy looked surprised, "Wait, what?"

She glared at him and pointed at her cheek. "A-ffec-tion." she repeated slowly.

With a laugh, Brainy kissed her cheek. "Happy?"

"Very. You got any toys for me?" she looked under the tables as if she expected to find something.

"You're acting very…strange." Brainy said.

"I'd say she's finally making sense." Eden said as she walked into the room, laden with even more shopping bags.

Brainy's face went white and he crossed the room, yanking Eden towards him by her arm, "Are you insane? You're going to get everyone killed."

"Re-lax Eddy." Carlson said, jumping up onto one of the tables. "I came across some valuable information this morning that's making me change my game plan."

Brainy's face wrinkled in confusion. "What?"Eden chuckled and pinched his cheek as she put down her shopping bags. "Aw, Eddy's so cute when he's confused."

"He's gunna kill me, Eddy." Carlson finally said.

"Who's gunna….Curly! What? No, he can't kill you." Brainy exclaimed.

"Well he's gunna try. I heard him tell Bruce so when he thought I was still out on my own. He also called me stupid and said something about maybe letting me live so that Bruce can keep me. Like I'm some kind of toy!" Carlson crossed her arms and legs and scowled.

"Wait a second." Helga finally piped up, "So…you're Motley?" she asked hesitantly.

Carlson nodded, "And you're Cat Scratch. Looks like we're playing on the same team now."

"I always knew he was just using you, but I can't believe he would actually want to kill you. I mean after all you've done for him." Brainy looked angry. "I don't want you going back there. Either of you."

"For a super genius you're pretty stupid." Carlson stated.

Eden nodded, "If we don't go back then we can't be on the inside. The less he things has changed the better."

"Well just let me know if there's anything else I can do for you, ok Carl?" Brainy crouched down to ensure she looked him dead in the eye.

Carlson smirked, "Well…you could help me pick out what I'm wearing on my date tonight."

"Date?" Eden and Brainy echoed each other.

"And you could let me know if you've made anymore firearms for me to play with." her grin was wide now.

"Woah man, you make firearms?" Gerald exclaimed.

Brainy nodded, looking a bit proud of himself. "They're a little…powerful, if you don't know what you're doing."

"Can we see?" Helga asked excitedly. Gerald and Arnold chirped up in agreement.

Brainy laughed, "Sure. But Carlson's the only one shooting."

"Hey! Why can't we shoot? We won't hurt anything." Helga snarled.

Brainy picked up two marbles out of a flower arrangement on one of his tables. "Let's just say that no one is gunna be as sharp as shooter as she is."

"She's a girl! How good can she be?" Gerald asked, sounding a little insulted.

As if to answer his question, Brainy shouted the word 'pull' and threw the marbles into the air.

In a flash, one of Carlson's handguns was out of her sleeve and with two loud pops, the marbles exploded in midair, turning to dust. Carlson glared back and Gerald before returning her gun to its rightful place. "You were saying?"

**So not a lot really happened in this chapter so…I'm sorry for that. Next one is gunna be pretty intense though. Don't forget to review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Wow I think this is the longest I've kept you guys waiting for a new chapter for a while. I have to warn you, most of this one is gunna be centered around Motley/Carlson and…stuff. Oh and you get to find out who her Marius is. I'm pretty sure that most, if not all of you will be surprised. Ok on with the show!**

Arnold hunched down with Helga and everyone else as Carlson dashed around the open and almost empty room. She had just obliterated a target with one of Brainy's firearms. It was like a bazooka, but lightweight and collapsible. Phoebe nervously clung to Gerald and Helga watched with intense curiosity.

"And here comes a jump shot." Eden and Brainy said together, clearly accustom to how these episodes went.

Carlson kept running around the room, a massive grin on her face. She'd explained earlier that she liked to stay in motion for her target practices since it made things more interesting and challenging. "I'm gunna try a jump shot then let's call it quits!" She shouted, not at all phased by the physical effort she was exherting.

"What the hell does that mean?" Gerald asked, wrinkling his nose, trying to hide just how impressed he was.

"She calls it a jump shot if she jumps up and then uses the backfire of the shot to send her back. Just to test the force and see if she can do anything useful or fun with it." Eden answered.

Another target popped up and Carlson destroyed it, the force of the shot throwing her about five feet back. She put the safety on the weapon and danced toward them, laughing as giddy as a little girl on Christmas. " You always have the best toys, Eddy."

"You think you could teach us any of that?" Gerald asked, a charming grin on his face.

Carlson looked between the odd group and to the gun in her hand a few times before smirking. "This is gunna be fun."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Baby face, where are you going?" Thaddeus whined as he caught Carlson walking out the door.

She jumped and turned around, glad that her trench was hiding the little green dress underneath. "Oh, muffin. Hi." She smiled widely and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I was just going for a walk."

"At this hour?" He raised a skeptical brow at her. "Are you keeping something from me, my pet?"

Carlson laughed at this, "Keeping? What would I want to keep from you, muffin?"

He held his chin and studied her for a while longer, "Well…I'm not sure. Are you busy?"

"Well-" Carlson began, but he didn't let her finish.

"Because I've just felt terrible about what I did to you last night and I…wanted to make it up to you."

Carlson felt her blood turn to ice. He was in the mood. She had to get going to she would miss her meeting with Marius.

"That and I was hoping you and Bruce could pick something up for me."

"Oh. Well I was just going to go for a walk. Can Bruce not handle it on his own?" She asked, maintaining her casual tone.

His hand was around her waist and he pulled her in close. "Well I guess he could. Then I could handle you." he kissed and bit her neck gently and Carlson did her best to not squeal as he toyed with one of her most sensitive areas.

"Actually, muffin, I was on my way out to go and pick up some tampons." She said, inching away from him.

Thaddeus suddenly looked horrified. "T-t-tampons?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I don't have enough to last me through the night. You know how I get, but…I guess it could wait." She pressed her body against his and nipped at his ear.

He looked like he was about to blow chunks. Once Carlson had started her cycle with him inside her. He, in turn, screamed like a girl and refused to ever have sex with her while she was on her period again. He shoved her away abruptly. "Go buy your tampons. Make up sex can wait."

Carlson put on a pout, "Alright then, muffin. I'll see ya later."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold held tightly to the semi automatic in his grip and fired for the same target. It was his third shot and still he missed it.

Helga watched him, smiling blissfully as she observed his movements. She had done alright with the guns Carlson had shown them. Gerald was the most excited of the bunch, and the best shot as well. Despite Phoebe's meek exterior, she hadn't done half bad either. The only one who was without a doubt a horrible shot was Arnold.

He groaned loudly and slammed his forehead loudly against the wall. Helga tried to stifle it, but she couldn't stop the laugh from emerging. He froze and looked around the empty room. "Please tell me it's Helga."

She emerged from her hiding spot on a beam above him. "Who else would it be, football head?"

"What're you doing up there?" He asked as he craned his neck to get a better look at her.

She shrugged and smiled coyly. "Just watching you being adorable."

"It's not adorable, I can't even hit the stupid target. What're you- Helga, no!" he covered his eyes and turned away when Helga jumped down.

She touched his shoulder gently, "Relax, Arnold-o. I'm a human kitty cat now, remember."

He looked at her, half expecting her to be on the ground with a broken leg. Arnold finally released the long sigh he'd been holding in. "I guess that's gunna take some getting used to."

Helga shrugged, "Well I'm glad you know. It wasn't easy keeping it from you."

"Yeah…" Arnold nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just glad to know that having been attracted to Cat Scratch wasn't a bad thing."

A devilish smirk found her lips, "Oh so you _like _the tight fitting leather and the whip?"

He shrugged innocently. "I…I might."

Helga's arms snaked around his neck and she pulled him closer, "You like the leather and the whip?"

Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat, "I guess you could say that."

She pressed her body against his and gently nipped at his ear, "I'm not gunna stop tormenting you until you admit it."

Arnold was getting sweaty and nervous now, "I guess I'm just a little intimidated by the whole super hero thing."

Helga stopped teasing him and looked up at him, "Arnold, it doesn't matter if I'm Cat Scratch or a genetically mutated octopus. You have nothing to be intimidated by. I'm still me."

He smiled and rubbed her cheek softly, "Well I'll still love you weither you're Cat Scratch or a genetically mutated octopus. As long as Helga's underneath."

She smirked playfully, "Helga's not going anywhere, football head."

His hand slid to the back of her neck. "Good." He kissed her softly, getting lost in the kiss as Helga embraced him tightly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson leaned against the light post, staring up at the window where her Marius had been the night before.

She tapped her fingers against her arm.

She scratched the nape of her neck.

She checked her watch. 3:27.

He wasn't coming.

With a sigh, she resisted the urge to scream and throw things at his window. Then again, she was more upset with herself. Fairytales didn't happen in real life. She'd been stupid to expect one would happen to her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"He has nothing to do with this!" Eden bellowed to Thaddeus. Both were unaware of Carlson as she entered the mansion. She took the opportunity to slide past them.

She bumped into Bruce on the way to her room. For the first time since meeting him, he cracked a smile at her before going on his way. Carlson smiled back and shook her head before continuing her trip down the hall.

About halfway to her room she heard a loud and outraged shout. She whistled and Eponine and Gavroche came bounding down the hall to her. Marius and Valjean must have been asleep. She fed them treats in her pockets before following the shouts to one of the empty rooms Thaddeus used to keep hostages and kidnapping victims.

"I HAVE TO GET BACK! IT'LL BE TOO LATE!" he screamed, fighting against his ties. Instead of going in to see him Carlson decided it would be better to get dressed up before making an appearance.

But still, what was he talking about?

"I NEED TO SEE EPONINE!" he screamed before hanging his head in anguish.

The hyena's ears perked at her name and Carlson's heart stopped.

Thaddeus wasn't aware of her Marius. Why would he want to kidnap him?

Unless…

He knew.

Fear coursed through her body. He knew everything. He knew she was rebelling against him. Why else would he kidnap Marius? He had nothing to do with it.

Carlson looked back in the room just in time for him to lift his head, the moon shining enough to illuminate his face. Marius maybe had nothing to do with it…

But Keith had most certainly been involved before.

**Betcha guys didn't see that one coming. Anyway, I'm sick so I'm off to sleep. Nighty night! Oh and don't forget to review. **


	19. Chapter 19

"I always knew you were a snake, but this is low, even for you." Eden snarled as she followed Thaddeus into his office.

Thaddeus rolled his eyes, "Bruce, get her out of my sight."

Bruce took a step forward, but stopped dead in his tracks when Eden stripped herself of her gloves and took on a fighting stance. "Just try it, gorilla boy." She snapped.

He swallowed a lump in his throat and took a step back. He might have been big and strong, but he didn't have an immunity to her poison like Eddy did. How he'd gotten that immunity, no one knew. Well, Eddy may have, but he'd always claimed it had been a fortunate accident.

Thaddeus shook his head, "What is the big deal, Eden?"

"The big deal is that he's done nothing wrong!" she exclaimed, walking towards him and fighting the urge to slap him across the face.

"Well maybe his research is of interest to me." he answered calmly.

"YOU'RE A STUPID MANIAC WITH A GUN! YOU DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT RESEARCH!" she bellowed, towering over him.

He smirked and rubbed one of his fingernails with his thumb. "You care about him."

"He was my friend, of course I care about him, you twat!" she shrieked.

"I think it's more than that." he challenged.

"Once upon a time, maybe." she sneered. "I'm not who I was. Something like that would never work between us." she shouted. "Besides, _look at me_! I'm a freak! This is what _you've_ made me and no one in their right mind would want that."

"Oh please, Venom, don't go blaming me for the way you are." he chided.

"Eden!" she snapped, "My name is _Eden_."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Where's Motley?"

"She came in while you two were fighting and went to her room." Bruce answered quietly.

Eden crossed her arms and glared up at him. This had been the first time she'd ever heard him speak. "So the ape has evolved enough to speak." she said coldly.

Bruce didn't answer and kept his eyes fixed to the ground.

Thaddeus rolled his eyes, "Bruce, keep an eye on _Eden_."

"What?" Eden exclaimed. "You can't be serious!"

"You're irrational. I don't want you doing something stupid like kidnapping what I've already stolen and taking it to your boyfriend to fix its brain."

Eden clenched her hands into fists, her knuckles turning white, "Keith is not an _it_."

"Whatever. Bruce, be sure she doesn't leave tonight." he waved his hand, signaling for them to leave.

Eden made an outraged noise before storming out of the room, Bruce quick on her heels.

Thaddeus waited until the sound of Eden's outraged shouting died down before he stood up and made his way for Motley's room. He found her asleep on her bed, sprawled out and snoring, one of her legs draped over one of the hyena's backs. He smirked and shook his head before leaving the room to go to sleep himself.

Little did he know, once he shut the door, he eyes opened and her peaceful, sleepy expression was exchanged with a scowl.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Keith opened his mouth to scream, but the clown girl ripped his tie off his chest and shoved it into his mouth and covered his mouth. She glared down at him. "You're going to listen to me. You're going to be quiet. You are going to come with me peacefully or I swear to god I'll have my pet here bite your package off, are we clear?"

He looked confused, but he nodded in compliance. She untied his hands and feet and led him down the corridors, pressing him against the walls and glaring at him when he started breathing heavily and rubbing his sweaty palms against his shirt.

Once they got to the garage, one of the only places in the mansion heavily monitored with video cameras, she pulled a small device out of her glove and pressed it. The light upon it blinked yellow a few times before it became steady green. She seized a pair of keys and pulled him along, shoving him harshly into a black Jaguar. The engine roared to life and she kept her eyes upon the device, that was now slowly blinking green. That meant that the cameras would be turning back on soon.

Keith watched her nervously but said nothing. A few seconds after they peeled out of the garage, the light turned red. Carlson sighed and relaxed into her seat. He alternated between staring at her and at the road ahead. Eventually, Carlson finally snapped and turned in her seat to glare at him, her nose inches from his. "Would you quit staring?" She snapped.

He pressed himself against the door and swallowed a lump in his throat. From the back seat, Eponine perked up and growled fiercely. "I'm just confused…can you watch the road? You're making me nervous."

She rolled her eyes and slid back into her seat, "First the staring, now you think I don't know how to drive. What next? Are you going to tell me that I'm buying the wrong kind of bras?"

Keith's cheeks turned red, "No, of course not…what time is it?"

"Four forty-five." she answered shortly.

He sighed, "She's not there then." he mumbled under his breath.

"She left about twenty minutes after three." Carlson returned sharply.

"How would you know?" He retorted, making no effort to hide the pout in his voice.

"Listen here, buster!" she turned to face him and held an extended finger in his face, "I can do things with cars that only stunt drivers do. I'm a master in four different martial arts. I have more guns on my person right now than most soldiers do." As if to prove her point, one of her small, but deadly, automatics popped out of her sleeve and its barrel rested against his forehead. "I'm going through a lot of trouble to get you where you're going. Not that I need this to kill you, but I will make sure that the next place anyone ever finds you again is at the bottom of a river if you don't just _shut _up, _stop _sulking, and let me drive! Are we clear?"

Keith nodded frantically and Carlson retracted her gun. "Good."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga clung to Arnold and crouched over him as the alarm went off.

"Man, can't anyone wake up _peacefully_ around here?" Gerald moaned as Brainy disabled the alarm in time to see Carlson with a hyena at her side and a squirming Keith on the other. Though her face was painted and she wore a mask, it was plain to see that she was…well annoyed at least. Little did anyone else know she was feeling many things. She was sad. She was happy. She was angry. She was confused. But the only one that really came across was annoyed.

"Keith?" Arnold asked, rubbing his eyes.

Keith managed a nervous smile, "Hi Arnold."

Helga slightly relaxed her protective crouch and gave Keith a skeptical look. "Wait a second…weren't you supposed to get a brain wipe?"

"A what?" Keith asked.

Everyone looked at Brainy, who shrugged. "The only thing I made him forget was the brain wipe itself. It didn't seem fair that he should spend so much time worrying about Eden just to learn what had happened to her and have it all erased just a few hours later."

Helga smiled. She knew that Brainy had feelings for Eden and found it admirable that he hadn't used the technology to forget about Eden entirely. "That was very sweet, Brainy."

"Is that a hyena?" Phoebe asked nervously.

Carlson grinned proudly, "Yeah, she's one of my babies. She's actually the alpha of the boys. You can pet her if you want." She scratched behind Eponine's ear and the animal leaned into her.

Phoebe bit her lip, but decided to go for it. She stepped forward cautiously, freezing when the beast raised her hackles and growled at her.

Carlson snapped, "Aye!" Eponine looked up at her and Carlson made a gesture, flicking her teeth twice. No one but Carlson knew all the gesture commands she'd taught to the hyenas. This one was one she rarely used that let the hyena know that they were in the presence of a friend. She waved for Phoebe to come forward, "Come on. If you act like you're scared of her then she'll never treat you like an equal."

Phoebe swallowed a lump in her throat, ignoring Gerald's praying as she extended her hand and met Eponine's rough fur. The animals leaned into Phoebe and the smaller girl laughed.

Carlson smirked and looked up just in time to hear Keith telling Eddy about the girl he wanted to go home to see if she'd made an appearance.

"Well what does she look like?" Eddy asked.

"She's beautiful with shining bright eyes, light blonde hair, and…she has the voice of an angel." Keith blushed and looked down.

Eddy looked at Carlson and smirked. "Voice of an angel, you say?"

"Is it just me or were you still ga-ga for Eden not to long ago?" Gerald asked, watching from a comfortable distance as Phoebe and Eponine got friendly, Phoebe giggling as the hyena rolled on her back and let the girl scratch her belly like a dog.

Carlson shook her head, a look of pleading in her eyes.

"She sounds like some kind of a dream girl. Why didn't you go after her before?" Helga asked as she rolled back into hers and Arnold's bed. Arnold tried to get up, but she forced him back down and nestled into his chest. He smirked and shook his head, but wrapped an arm around her nonetheless.

Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "Well I don't even know her name. I've been calling her Eponine because…well it's hard to believe."

The hyena perked up at the sound of her name, but relaxed when Phoebe found a hot spot on her belly.

Carlson shook her head at Brainy, her eyes narrowed.

Brainy ignored her and pulled out a photo, shoving it in Keith's face. "Is this her?"

Keith squinted at the photo before exclaiming, "Yes! Who is she?"

Before Brainy could answer, Carlson had sprinted the distance between them and threw her fist into his face, sending him onto the floor.

"You're fucking dead!" she shouted as she straddled and backhanded him.

To everyone's surprise, Brainy just laughed. "Yes, because you were never going to say anything."

Keith's face went white, "_You're_ Eponine?"

Carlson glared at him, "_She's _Eponine." she pointed at the hyena, who was staring back and forth between the two of them. "_My_ name is Carlson."

"Not that I don't enjoy attractive young women on top of me, but could you get off? I'd like to tend to my bloody nose." Brainy said.

Carlson nodded and helped him up. "I'm sorry I lost my temper and punched you in the face." she said, unable to retract the sulking tone from her voice.

Brainy chuckled as he dabbed his nose with a white rag. "Don't worry about it, Carly. You can ask Helga, I'm used to it."

She crossed her arms and glared at him, "You know how I feel about being called Carly."

"And you know how most people feel about getting punched in the face. Deal with it." came the short reply.

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I'm out of her. Come on, Eponine." She whistled and the hyena reluctantly rolled away from Phoebe and to her owner's feet.

"Wait a second!" Keith stepped forward too quickly and Eponine growled fiercely, causing him to leap back in surprise.

Carlson crossed her arms, "What?"

"Well I think we should talk." he said nervously.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure fine we will, but right now _I've _got to get back to the lunatic who wants to murder me so that he won't come here and murder all of us tonight, got it?"

Keith nodded slowly, "Ok."

Without another word, Eponine and Carlson rushed to the unattended car and rolled out onto the road, leaving behind a very confused Keith and a very amused Eddy.

**Well that was special. Anywhere, here comes one of my random thank yous to everyone who has followed and reviewed and everything. I love you all! I won't put now specific names of thanks until my last chapter, but I just wanna say thanks. **

**Also, I'd be very interested to know who's shipping who. Leave it in your review or send it to me in a message. Do we like KeithxEden, BrainyxEden, BrainyxCarlson, KeithxCarlson, CurlyxCarlson, or BrucexCarlson? Or some others that haven't been put on the table (for now). I love you all!**


	20. Chapter 20

Carlson hummed as she stepped out of the shower and onto something plastic that made a loud crinkling noise underfoot. She stopped and readjusted the towel around her, crouching down to pick up the box of chocolates she'd just stepped upon. After so much time with Thaddeus, she'd learned to be cautious. She opened the box, half expecting an explosion or a puff of gas to shoot into her face. She was happy to be greeted with actual chocolates.

Still, she wasn't stupid.

"Gavroche!" she called sweetly.

There was the sound of scampering as the runt dashed at her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, making him almost look like a dog. She giggled and scratched behind his ear before crouching down next to him. All of her hyenas had their own special skill. Valjean could track explosives. Marius could find the most high tech bug on the planet. Eponine was especially helpful in getting past security systems, which was one of the only reasons she was able to sneak into Eddy's lab so easily where others would find the task almost impossible. Gavroche was more useful than having a taster to be sure her food wasn't poisoned. Even if it was just a sleeping pill, Gavroche could tell. How she'd taught the hyenas these things, no one knew, and she'd never tell. Even if you were around to watch what Carlson called 'the magic' it looked like nothing happened.

She opened the box under Gavroche's nose and said, "Alright, baby, let me know if anyone wants to poison your mama."

Gavroche sniffed each chocolate before shaking his head with a snort. Carlson smirked and kissed the top of his head before heading towards her room, the runt at her heels. She popped one of the chocolates in her mouth and moaned gleefully. They were good. She reached down and placed the box on Gavroche's head. The hyena didn't look thrilled, but he managed to keep the box in place as he kept at her heels.

She was almost to her room when Bruce came into view. A devilish smirk came across her face. "Hey Brucey!" she called.

Bruce saw her and he tried looking away immediately. He knew just how much Carlson liked to try and get a rise out of him. And he'd never seen her so…exposed.

It was too late. She shouted "BAM!" and opened her towel, exposing herself to him. She wasn't ashamed of her body. This was clear and plain to see in the clothes she wore in her spare time, from short shorts to belly exposing shirts and deep V neck tops.

He covered his face and tried rushing past her, doing his best to hide the bright red on his cheeks. He almost stepped on Gavroche as he passed the hyena and the animal snarled, snapping at Bruce's heels a few times. Carlson managed to save the chocolates before they fell off his head. She glared at Bruce. Granted, he was in cahoots with the bastard wanting to kill her, but he'd spoken up for her. All she wanted to do was have some fun with him, mess around, make a friend. He liked her, she'd even heard him say so. Then why did he refuse to even speak to her?

"What? Are you gay?" she shouted at him.

He stopped him his tracks and turned around, relieved to see that the towel was covering her again.

"Seriously, no judgment or anything." She put the box back on Gavroche's head and the animal sighed, but kept the box in place. "I'd be nice to know if you're repulsed by girl parts though."

His face turned red again and Carlson fought to keep the scowl off her face. "Oh I see. It's not girl parts, it's just me. Maybe you don't like blondes." She ran her fingers through her wet tresses. "Well if that's the case then the joke's on you 'cause I'm not even a real blonde. Or maybe you just think I'm hideous. Or maybe you just _hate _me."

He turned suddenly. He looked like he was about to speak, maybe defend himself against her words.

The bulge in his pants caught her attention and Carlson smirked, "Oh so you _do _like this?" she dropped the towel completely, amused at the crimson shade his face had turned. "You just hate my personality."

Carlson crossed her arms over her face and shrunk a foot when he moved for her so quickly. She felt vulnerable without a weapon on her. Granted her jabs today were a lot more harsh than they normally were. She couldn't help it! She was getting really tired of his bullshit.

To her surprise, he collected the towel at her feet and shoved it onto her, forcing her to cover up. He reached for the chocolates, but Gavroche snapped at his hand. He managed to evade the strong jaws of the animal and caught the box before it fell on the ground. He pushed that into her chest as well. "I couldn't hate you if I tried, Carlson." he said coldly, his face inches from hers.

Her jaw dropped and eyes went wide as he turned and left, for once leaving her the speechless one. She looked down at Gavroche, as if he had an answer for her. He only gave her the same curious look.

She peeled into her room, Gavroche at her heels. Eponine and the other hyenas were curled up in their usual place by the window, all looking up at her curiously. She dropped the towel again and dumped the chocolates on the bed. She looked under the lid. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She ripped the plastic on the bottom. This was a first. Carlson was OCD about a few things and these plastic pieces were one of them. Not very many people knew that about her though.

The paper hidden underneath was like buried treasure. She felt like Indiana Jones in The Raiders of the Lost Arc at the beginning of the movie while he was exchanging a sandbag for a golden idol not long before nearly getting flattened by a giant rock ball.

When she finally got the nerve to read it, she stared at it blankly for what felt like hours. Scrawled upon the sheet were the words:

_For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"What the fuck do you want?" Eden asked as Thaddeus entered her lab. She crossed her arms as she leaned against one of the tables, scowling at him with her arms crossed over her chest. She _had _been listening to Jimi Hendrix to calm her down, but even that was doing no good to calm her down.

"I think you know, Venom." he replied, his voice strained, doing his best to not lose his temper.

"I wouldn't ask if I knew." she snarled.

His struggle didn't last long, "WHERE DID YOU TAKE YOUR BOYFRIEND, VENOM?" He shouted.

Eden stared at him, mouth slightly agape, "What the _hell _are you talking about?"

"He was there last night, you knew he was there, you screamed like a spoiled _brat_ about him for a good hour and a half and then claimed to not have feelings for him. Now, he's gone!" his eyes were wide and wild. He had the same look on his face he always wore before he got physically abusive with Carlson. There was no way to know just how far it could go. Eden was all too aware of his abuse, from a slap across the face and even the time he'd thrown Carlson from a three-story window. Unlike Carlson, he wouldn't dare lay a finger on Eden. The worst he'd ever done was scream at her.

"Wait a second…he's…gone?" Eden couldn't hide the smile that found her lips.

"Don't play stupid, Venom!" he snapped.

"Eden." She reminded him shortly. "And you had Bruce watching me all night like I was some kind of baby. I didn't do anything!"

He rolled his eyes, "Who _else _would want to get him out of here?" he was calmer, but still impatient now.

She shrugged, "Maybe someone just likes pissing you off."

He scowled and turned to leave her lab, "Your story had better check out."

Eden just smiled. She didn't know who had gotten Keith out, she was just glad that they had.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Helga rolled her eyes, "You guys sang a _song_ together. You're _not _in love with her."

"I know it sounds crazy-" Keith began.

"Crazy?" Gerald said, "More like stupid."

"I'm afraid I have to concur." Phoebe added. "Love at first sight isn't really love at all. Simply infaturation. It sounds like you've lost someone and you're trying to compensate by replacing those feelings with the first girl you see."

"Yeah, what she said." Helga agreed, "Besides, you don't know anything about her besides the fact that she's got some pipes on her."

"I know plenty about her!" Keith retorted defensivly.

"Like what?" Arnold challenged.

"She's got hair like moonlight that falls gently around her shoulders and she's got pet hyenas, eyes like the heavens -" Though he was trying to sound romantic, he sounded a lot more like a math problem by the time Arnold cut him off.

"What's her favorite color?" Arnold replaced the question.

"Well…it's…"Keith struggled with a guess.

"Blue." Gerald said, pointing at Phoebe, who nodded in agreement with a giggle.

"Pink." Arnold smirked before planting a kiss on Helga's cheek as she nodded to confirm it.

"Well her favorite color is….well it's…" Never liking to lose, Keith still hadn't given up.

From his computer, Brainy chuckled, "Carlson's favorite color is green."

"Oh." Keith bit his lip, unwilling to admit why he refused to guess green. Green was Eden's favorite color too.

"What about her favorite song?" Phoebe asked.

"Uncharted by Sara Bareilles." Gerald answered in a groan, having a great disliking for the song.

"Savior by Rise Against." Arnold spoke up.

Helga didn't hide the surprise on her face, "How'd you know that?"

He winked at her, "I have my ways."

"Well…um…I dreamed a dream?" He guessed.

Brainy chuckled, "Not even close. People like us from The Wild Party."

"Well maybe I-" Keith began, but he didn't get far before he was interrupted.

"What's Eden's favorite song?" Brainy asked.

"Just what I needed by The Cars." he answered instantly.

Brainy nodded, "That's right. And what about Eden's favorite color?"

"It's green, but-"

"But nothing." Brainy snapped before getting up and leaving the room.

Keith stared at where Brainy used to be before looking back at the others. "What's with him?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson didn't bother knocking on Bruce's door. He tossed the book he'd been reading across the room with surprise at the invasion. "What the hell is this?" she demanded, shoving the paper in his face.

He swallowed a lump in his throat, but said nothing.

Her scowl deepened, "You're not going all 'strong and silent type' on me. What the hell is this?"

"Judy Garland said it." he answered quietly.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "I've been in more musicals than anyone in this goddamn pit have ever even seen. PUT TOGETHER! I was Millie Dillmount!" She slapped him, not hard, but with enough punch to get a reaction out of him. "I was Christine Daae! Millie Pontipee! Queenie! I was Dolly! I grew up watching Summer Stock, Meet Me In St. Louis, and Easter Parade! Fuck, I can still quote most of them word for word! You think I wouldn't recognize a Judy Garland quote?"

He looked down sheepishly, "No. That's why I picked it."

"Well that doesn't answer what the hell it is!" she may have been dwarfed by his stature, but that didn't kill her fire any. If anything, she looked like the frightening one and he looked like the shrinking and scared one.

She raised her hand to hit him again and he caught her wrist before she could. She tried yanking her hand free, but he held her firmly. "He doesn't love you." He said at last, very calm, or sad, she couldn't tell which.

Carlson managed to wrench her hand free, "You think I don't know that?"

"Then why do you stay?" His palm pressed against her cheek.

She shook his hand off her face and took a step back, surprised at how he'd managed to turn the tables on her so easily. The worst part was…in a way…she liked it. "The same reason you do." She snarled.

"I stay for you." He said, stepping closer to her.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. She tried to step back, but was stopped by the wall. "What are you doing?" Her voice was no longer angry and demanding as it had been before. Now it was timid and almost shaky.

"All you have to do is tell me to stop." He informed her as he brushed a lock of hair from her brow.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. "Alright then, stop."

He looked down, but nodded and stepped back.

"Why didn't you ever talk to me?" Carlson asked, looking down and fidgetting with her hands.

"You wouldn't have liked me." He admitted, sitting on his bed. "I'm not exactly a golden boy. Maybe back in High School when I was a football star, but even then I was a jerk. Then I was a drug addict until Curly found me again. I mean, come on, what's to like?"

Carlson bit her lip and sat next to him. He gave her a bewildered look as she scooted closer to him. "Ya know, I walked in on my parents murderer as he was robbing the house. He ended up raping me."

"What's his name?" He had moved his face right in front of hers, a very serious expression on his face. "I'll kill him."

Carlson pursed her lips together, but found that she was unable to suppress the giggle that escaped. "That's ok, Bruce."

"No, it's not ok." he looked angry now. "I will _kill _him. In the slowest and most painful method possible."

He'd taken hold of her hand during his rant and was squeezing it too hard. She winced, "No, Bruce, as in, that's ok because he's already dead…a lot like my fingers will be soon." She said half jokingly.

He instantly released her hand, pulling it into his lap to make sure he hadn't broken any of her fingers, muttering multiple apologies. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him. It was strange watching the big brute force turned into what she could only describe as a big giant teddy bear. She bit her lip and without thinking said, "You know what I said before?"

"That you were raped by your parents' killer?" His voice was cold and still angry.

"Well no. That was more just to prove a point. I mean when I told you to…stop." She looked away, blushing.

"What point?" He asked, seemingly ignoring her last continence.

Carlson shrugged, "No one here has a happy past. Something really shitty brought us all here."

"I guess that's true."

They sat in silence for a few seconds that felt like centuries until Carlson finally said, "So are you just going to ignore that I just basically told you that you could go?"

He laughed lightly. In a way he was glad they had come together the way they had. She never would have even given him a chance before. He'd never have gotten the chance to hear her sing in the shower every morning or shower the hyenas with kisses, watch Pulp Fiction with her upside down on the couch just a seat away. "Go where?"

She rolled her eyes and stood up, "I knew coming here unarmed was a bad idea."

Before she could get far he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back onto the bed with a loud thud. "You're awfully relaxed considering that you're unarmed."

She squealed and managed to suppress a laugh when she landed back onto the bed. "Oh please, It's not like you'll hurt me."

One of his fingers traced the line from her ear to her chin, "Well you're right there."

**Let me tell ya, being sick kinda sucks. Thanks for all your reviews and input! And don't worry everyone, even I don't know who I'm shipping yet. It's very complex business, this shipping. Anyway, sorry for not giving you guys a lot of action, but I wanted to add some…substance to the Carlson and Bruce relationship. Next chapter is gunna be pretty action packed though. Speaking of chapters, I can't believe this makes 20! Wow that's crazy, dude. Thanks for following and don't forget to review! **


	21. Chapter 21

Helga did her best to not roll her eyes as Phoebe demanded that Brainy give her a phone to call her parents. It was only a matter of time before she started panicking about the wedding again. Gerald was still trying to calm her down and keep her under control, but he was having even less luck than Brainy. She looked between Keith, who had fallen asleep on the couch, and Arnold who looked just as bored as she did.

"Let's never get married." She sighed, leaning back against her seat.

Arnold smirked, "That's unfortunate. I already bought you a ring."

Helga perked up. "What?"

He shrugged, "I suppose I can take it back."

In a single bound, she closed the distance between them, putting her face close to his with a smirk. "You're a terrible liar, Arnold."

Arnold jumped, "I'm never going to get used to this."

A red light started blinking and Brainy finally firmly held Phoebe's shoulders, holding her back. "SHUT UP!" He pushed her away, ignoring Gerald's protests, and pressed a button for his security. His skin turned icy. "Everyone needs to hide. Phoebe needs to shut up. Helga…I'd recommend you put on your cat suit."

Helga furrowed a brow at him. "Why?"

He jutted a thumb towards one of the many screens in the room. "We have company, and most of them aren't friendly."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Why Wolfgang, you're looking dapper." Brainy said as he stepped aside, allowing him, Venom, Motley, Curly, and half a dozen grunts into his lab.

Wolfgang glared down at Brainy. "Dweeb." he muttered under his breath, earning a scowl from Motley and Venom. He ignored them. Old habits died hard.

Brainy grinned, "Ah, broken your vow of silence?"

"He breaks what I tell him to, your back not being an exception." Curly stated proudly, strutting to the front of the group.

Brainy threw open his arms in an almost mocking gesture, as if he were offering Curly an embrace. "My old friend. What brings you to my humble abode?"

"I think you know, Edward." Curly replied coolly.

"I wouldn't ask if I knew, Curly." He replied coolly.

"My name is _Thaddeus_." Curly snarled.

Brainy rolled his eyes, "Alright then, Thaddeus. We both know that I'm no idiot_. _If I knew what you were doing here or what you wanted I wouldn't ask."

"He's right, boss." Motley spoke up cheerfully. Brainy had to smile at her acting ability. If he didn't know any better he would say that Motley was still on his side. "Eddy's no dummy." She winked at Brainy and he smiled back.

"I'm aware of this, Motley." Curly growled, clenching his fists and doing his best to keep his temper under control.

"You aren't acting like you're aware of anything." Venom replied, her voice dripping with poison. She almost sounded bored.

Brainy put a fake pout on his face, "Aw, Eden, are you annoyed with your employer?"

Eden rolled her eyes, "You have no idea."

"Rip the place apart, Bruce." Curly said blankly.

"What?" Eden was suddenly alert.

"What?" Motley's grin was replaced with horror.

"Excuse me?" Brain took a step in front of Bruce, who was about to throw over one of the many stainless silver tables in the room. Not to mention the fortune's worth of equipment upon it.

"You're hiding something from me." Curly accused, boldly pointing his finger in Brainy's direction.

"And what gives you that idea?" Eden snarled, moving to stand beside Brainy.

"Don't you get into this." Curly snarled at Eden.

"No. Stop trying to control me. I'm not going to let you do this for no reason." She snapped.

Motley sprinted between Bruce and her friends, "Me either. This isn't right, muffin."

Bruce narrowed his eyes at her, "What are you doing?" He whispered to her through clenched teeth. "You don't want to make him angry."

"Wolfgang!" Curly snapped, "What are you doing? Rip it apart!"

Motley shook her head, "I'm not going to let you do this."

"Motley! Get back over here and stop acting like an idiot." Curly ordered.

She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head, "It's not gunna happen."

Curly looked surprised, "What did you just say?"

She whipped one of her arms in front of her and one of her guns popped out of her sleeve. "I said no, muffin. You want me to spell it for you?"

His face sobered and he laughed, "You wouldn't dare."

She smirked, "Oh really?" She lowered the gun and with a loud bang, a bullet hole placed itself a few inches from his feet before raising the weapon again.

Curly jumped back. "Bruce!"

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, his hand wrapping around almost half of her forearm. "What are you thinking?" He hissed.

She glared up at him, "This is wrong."

"Grow a concience some other time." He growled. "Apologize and stop being stupid!"

"We're waiting!" Curly snarled.

She pulled on her arm, trying to release it, "No!"

"Get her over here Bruce." Curly snapped.

There was a loud crack and Bruce winced, relaxing his grip enough for Carlson to slip out of his grip. Helga readied her whip and glared at them. "I believe she said no."

Curly's face turned red with rage, "What's going on here?"

Bruce looked down at Carlson, his face befuddled. She smirked in return and took a step back, glancing over her shoulder when Brainy draped an arm over her shoulder. "The girls didn't tell you?" Brainy replied. "They're…under new management."

"What?" Curly spat.

"What?" Bruce asked, almost breathlessly.

Carlson whistled and her quartet of beasts gathered around her feet. "It's the right thing to do. Besides, you were going to kill me anyway."

Bruce looked horrified. "You knew about that?"

"I'm not stupid." She replied shortly.

Helga was suddenly standing upon the table behind them. "Yeah, we make a brilliant motley crew." She pinched Brainy's cheek before patting it.

"You're a rat!" Curly snapped.

"No, that would be you." Helga replied.

Carlson grinned, "Nighty night." She threw something on the floor and in an instant, the room filled with smoke.

Curly, Bruce, and the grunts coughed and waved at the smoke in the room, but by the time they could see anything, Cat Scratch, Edward, Venom, Motley, and the hyenas were all gone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Come here often?" Carlson asked Brainy as they stepped out of the humvee and into the sewer.

"Yeah, all the time." Brainy replied playfully.

Eden slid out of the car and once she saw who was waiting for them in the makeshift living space, her eyes went wide and her mouth feel open. In an instant she'd cleared the distance between her and Keith and wrapped her arms around her. "Thank god you're ok!"

Keith's cheeks went red, "You-you were…worried?"

Eden's hold on him tightened and she buried her face in his chest, "Of course I was. I'm so happy you're not hurt."

Keith looked down at her and moved to wrap his arms around her, but stopped himself, recalling how deadly her touch was. Brainy waved a pair of gloves in front of him and Keith nodded thankfully at him. After slipping the gloves on, he fiercely returned her embrace.

Helga snuck over to Arnold and smirked, "They're so cute."

"You think they're ever gonna wake up and fall in love again?" Carlson asked Brainy playfully.

He smirked, "Maybe. You never know."

"So why the sewers?" Carlson demanded scratching behind Valjean's ear.

"I'll show you."


	22. Chapter 22

"Why the long face, Carlson?" Helga asked cheerfully as she bit into an apple. "We've got Curly's _entire _cast of freaks on our side and Brainy even said it'll be almost impossible for him to find us down here. _Relax_."

"Not all the freaks." Eden spoke up, her hands with a mind of their own brushing Keith's hair off his face as he slept on her leg. If she wasn't wearing jeans she would have never allowed it, but with her wardrobe change she didn't fight it.

Helga shrugged, "We're just missing the big freaky looking guy."

Carlson perked up now, "Are you talking about Bruce?"

"I guess so. The one I whipped in the face." Helga said, almost proudly.

"Yeah, I just call him gorilla boy." Eden smirked.

Helga and Eden laughed, ignoring the dark look that they were getting from Carlson. "Eddy!" The small blonde girl called.

Brainy looked up from the tablet in his laugh, "Yeah, Carly?"

She hurled a rock at his head and he ducked out of the line of fire just in time. "I hate it when you call me that. It's Carlson or Carl. Not _fucking_ Carly."

He smiled, "What did you need?"

"Can I use one of your computers for about half an hour?"

Brainy looked confused, "Um, sure I guess. Why?"

"To explain the long face."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"You fucked her, didn't you?" Curly demanded.

Bruce swallowed a lump in his throat and backed up against the wall, "No I didn't."

"You did something. I'm not an idiot." Curly picked up a bottle of sherry and threw it across the room where it shattered against a painting, destroying it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bruce's voice was shaky.

"Don't make me do it." Curly snarled, pressing a button upon his watch.

Bruce's eyes went wide, "I told her I loved her, but I didn't have sex with her!" He confessed hastily, fully aware of what Curly was threatening.

Curly pressed a button on the watch anyway and Bruce fell to the ground screaming, clenching his fists and doing his best to not cry through the unbearable pain. "You buffoon! You knew about the rebellion!"

"I didn't! I swear!" Bruce screamed.

Curly pressed the button again and Bruce stopped screaming, hunched over on the ground, weeping like a babe. "If that's the case then we'll have to kill them before the party. We wouldn't want them mucking up our plans."

"But…Calrson." Bruce breathed.

"If you're lucky I won't make you kill her yourself." Curly spat. "Assemble the others."

Bruce stayed on the ground, breathing deeply, trying to let the information sink in. Curly would make him kill Carlson, the only person he ever loved. It was almost too much to bear.

"I said assemble them!" Curly repeated, louder and more demanding.

Sadly, Bruce crawled onto his feet and obeyed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Why do we have to be here?" Gerald complained. "This is like a super heroes meeting and in case you haven't noticed not all of us are super."

"Give it a rest, Gerald-o." Helga sneered, "You're in this so you might as well just be in on whatever the hell is going on."

"What exactly _is_ going on?" Keith asked sleepily.

Carlson glared at them, "You're all too confidant and it's incredibly stupid of you."

Brainy furrowed a brow. "What are you talking about Carl?"

Carlson couldn't keep back her smile, glad that for once he hadn't called her Carly. "Let's just say that I managed to learn some things from Eddy."

Eden looked between Carlson and Brainy. "What are you talking about?"

"We might be the favorites, but Thaddeus has been recruiting again." Carlson answered.

"What?" Brainy declared.

"Wait how? Last time he was trying to recruit he had us in on the action." Eden asked. "Besides, both times we came up with nothing."

"_We_ came up with nothing." Carlson repeated, "But _he _did."

Eden's face sobered. "What now?"

Carlson typed something on the computer and Brainy's travel size projector tossed a black and white image of a large bald man wearing what looked like a fishbowl upon his head. "This is Doctor Rayvik. He used to be a brilliant cryogenist. His son was murdered and after that Rayvik went nuts. He became angry and wouldn't let anyone come near him. He froze himself by mistake once. Now, due to the circumstances of the freezing, his body temperature needs to stay below freezing or he'll die. I don't really know what Thaddeus wants with him, but he's not easy going with rainbow hugs for everyone. Eden, I would recommend that you take _extreme _caution if you come across him."

Keith looked concerned. "Why?"

Eden scratched the back of her neck, "Well I'm…kind of half plant, as you know, but I need to stay in warmer temperatures and stay hydrated. A flash freeze would probably kill me."

"Moving on." Carlson said over them, moving to the next slide. "This is Hayley Dawson. I'm hoping at least one of you knows who she is."

Helga examined the picture of the young woman. She snapped her fingers once she recognized her. "I know her! She was on the news all the time. Some kind of attorney or something until some wack job threw acid on her face."

"That's actually the jist of the story. After the acid incident she kind of just fell off the map. Thaddeus' records indicate that she developed a split personality and has been working with some of the crime bosses of Hillwood." Carlson finished.

"This Thaddeus guy sure likes crazy people." Keith observed.

"Well you ain't seen nothin' yet." Carlson moved to the next picture. "I know this freak especially well. Before Thaddeus overtook the asylum, he was actually a patient of mine. I know because I didn't have many. Just Thaddeus, Marta, Rose, Jake, and this loon. Ash Fox. He was always so…enthralled with fear. Our sessions used to consist with him trying to rip himself out of his straight jacket while asking me what I feared most. How it made me act and things like that. Before he was committed Ash was a great chemist and he developed this…gas. I'm not sure how to explain what it does. His observations and notes all just say that 'fear becomes all who breath'."

Are there any others?" Phoebe asked.

"Just one, as far as I'm aware at least." She clicked on the last profile, "Meet Alexander Wu."

Gerald furrowed a brow, "The movie star?"

Helga cocked her head, "That just looks like a pile of mud."

"But a brutal pile of mud." Carlson replied.

"And what was the point of showing us with?" Helga asked.

"To get it into your guys' heads that this isn't going to be easy." Carlson snarled.

Brainy put a hand on her shoulder, "You did great Carlson. Any ideas as to what he has planned?"

"I have one." She admitted sheepishly. "I compiled it with my long lost notes from his therapy sessions. Whoever he wanted to get revenge on by murdering those four girls is still out there and he wants them."

"Rhonda Lloyd." Brainy hissed.

Carlson shook her head, "No, it's Rhonda Berman now."

**Sorry there wasn't as much action as I promised. I would have written more tonight but I gotta go to bed. And yes, I did genderbend Two-Face. heheDon't forget to review and let me know what you think of the upcoming villains! **


	23. Chapter 23

"Hold up, so Curly's still obsessed with the princess?" Helga asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Carlson threw her hands in the air, "Does everyone literally know everyone except for me?" She exclaimed.

Keith looked around before slowly putting his hand in the air, "I don't know who Rhonda Berman is."

"Me either." Eden confessed.

"So what does he want to do with Rhonda?" Arnold asked.

Carlson shrugged, "Whatever it is, it's not gunna be good."

"What makes you so certain of that?" Phoebe asked.

Carlson shrugged, "I was his shrink. But what he has planned-"

Before she could finish, Gerald piped up, "Hold on a minute! You were his therapist?"

Carlson scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, eager to change the subject. "Yes, I was."

"So you should have been smart enough to see that he's a total wacko." Gerald continued. "In a way, this is all your fault."

Carlson gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her palms, fighting the urge to hold him at gunpoint.

Before she could open her mouth again, Brainy intercepted, placing a hand on Carlson's shoulder. "Curly is much more manipulative than he seems."

"So?" Gerald wasn't backing down. He ignored Helga's glare and stern shaking head and Phoebe's elbow as it constantly badgered his ribs. "She should have known better."

Carlson growled and took a step forward, only to have Brainy wrap and arm around her waist and pull her off the ground.

"You're adding fuel to the fire, Gerald. It's not a good idea." Brainy advised, keeping a firm grip on Carlson.

Gerald smirked, "Yeah, because she's definitely going to shoot me."

"Carlson's a great shot, but that's not all she has going for her." Brainy snapped.

"Let go of me before I give them a demo." Carlson snapped.

Gerald scoffed, "Please, man. Without firearms that girl has nothing."

"I'd like to think of that as a challenge." Carlson snarled, putting her face inches from his. Her hyenas started growling at Gerald and she made a motion for them to back down.

Gerald laughed, "This is going to be fun."

Phoebe looked between the two, fully aware of Gerald's ability in a boxing ring. "This is going to be interesting."

Eden winced, "This is going to be brutal."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"This is a bad idea." Arnold said from the edge of the makeshift boxing ring as Gerald wrapped bandages around his knuckles.

Helga smirked, "My bet's on Carlson."

Arnold looked at her, eyes wide and mouth agape. "That girl is _tiny_. Gerald is going to turn her into a pile of powder."

"I'm afraid I have to concur." Phoebe agreed.

"Then let's take bets." Eden chirped up. "I've got fifty on Carlson."

"Fifty?" Arnold considered the contents of his wallet and cringed.

Eden rolled her eyes, "Alright then, twenty."

He shrugged, "Alright, I've got twenty on Gerald."

Keith handed in a bill, "I've got twenty on Gerald too."

Phoebe looked between Gerald and Carlson before deciding "Gerald."

Helga looked surprised, "Wow, Pheebs. Didn't expect that. You don't really gamble."

"It's not a gamble, it's an investment." Phoebe replied cheerfully.

Helga shrugged, "Whatever you say, Pheebs."

"Carlson." Brainy added his own twenty.

"If you guys are done playin' around, what's the rules of the fight?" Gerald asked.

Brainy stepped up into the ring, "Alright, you guys are gunna freestyle. Pretty much anything goes."

Carlson gave Brainy a skeptical look, "You realize you just signed his death warrant right?"

Brainy continued as if he hadn't heard he, "Anything goes except for killing. First person to hit the mat five times loses. Just don't play dirty."

Gerald smirked, "You ready to hit the mat?" He asked confidently

Carlson rolled her eyes, "Oh puh-_lease._"

"Never take your eyes off your opponent." Gerald said as Helga rang the bell, starting the fight. He reached out to tap her shoulder, but before he could, she caught his wrist, twisted it almost to the breaking point before using his arm to twist her body into the air, coiling her legs around his neck and pulling him down onto the mat.

Phoebe gasped and had to stop herself from rushing to Gerald's side. Arnold stared, mouth agape. Eden and Brainy gave each other a high five. Helga curled over laughing. Carlson smirked down at Gerald. "Give up?"

She unclamped her legs from his neck and Gerald scrambled onto his feet. Carlson smirked and sunk into a boxing stance. "Don't take it easy on me, I'm a big girl."

"You asked for it." Gerald jabbed at her and Carlson evaded him.

Helga leaned against Arnold's shoulder and laughed when Carlson got Gerald on the ground again. "You bet for the wrong person."

Arnold nodded, "She's pretty good."

"Hey football head…weren't you a karate master once upon a time?" She asked, almost egging him on.

"Oh yeah!" Brainy spoke up. "You should take on Carlson next. Could be fun."

Arnold shook his head, "Oh no."

"Why not?" Eden jumped into the conversation, laughing and clapping her hands as Carlson threw Gerald over her hip, flipping him onto his back. "Carlson might be able to teach you a few things."

"What exactly is she…mastered in?" Arnold asked.

"Uh…karate, teakwondo, judo-" Brainy paused, trying to remember the others.

Carlson overheard them and threw Gerald onto the mat again before finishing the answer for Brainy. "Karate, teakwood, judo, aikido, capoeira,-" she paused to duck Gerald's fist and throw him onto the ground again, ignoring his outraged cry, "Jiu jitsu, and kung fu."

Helga's eyes went wide, "Wow, impressive."

Gerald ran at her and lifted her onto his shoulders, just getting more annoyed when she started laughing.

Eden winced when Carlson somehow managed to turn the tables and get him on his back again. "Yeah, Carl went crazy on the martial arts after what happened to her parents."

Keith arched a brow, "What happened to her parents?"

Having won the fight, Carlson jumped out of the ring, "None of your damn business, that's what." She nodded in Arnold's direction. "You wanna go?"

"Man! That bitch is crazy!" Gerald exclaimed. "How'd you do that?"

Carlson smirked and shrugged, "I'm a very dedicated student."

Helga elbowed Arnold, "Come on, football head."

Arnold rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't know. I'm a little rusty."

Carlson shrugged, "Eh, I'll go easy on you."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"I bet you're pretty pleased with yourself?" Brainy asked smugly as he hopped onto Carlson's bed.

She looked over her shoulder at him, bubbles foaming from her mouth as she scrubbed her teeth with her toothbrush. "Ah oo awkin' ah bou'?"

Brainy gave her a confused look before laughing, "What?"

Carlson rolled her eyes and spit the toothpaste out of her mouth before rinsing and repeating herself, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh. I was talking about the masses of bruised bodies over there." He jutted a thumb over his shoulder.

"Oh…that." She smiled, clearly proud of herself. "You know Phoebe has a lot of potential. She stops being so timid and she could seriously kick some ass."

Brainy smirked, "Yeah, she's pretty impressive. The only person who kicked your ass though was Helga."

Carlson scowled at him and took a handful of his hair, pulling and twisting it, forcing his face back to look at her. "It was a tie."

Brainy chuckled and stared up at her, "Whatever you say."

Her scowl softened, but her gaze held with his, "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He challenged.

She pulled on his hair again, "You know what."

Before she could stop him, he pulled her lips onto his.

Shocked, Carlson squealed and jumped away, slapping him hard across the face. "How _dare_ you kiss me?"

"Like this." He kissed her again and before Carlson knew what was happening she melted into him and started kissing him back.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Ed-wa-wa-ard." Keith stared awkwardly at Brainy and Carlson, their limbs tangled together. Carlson climbed off of him, covering her breasts as she pulled her tank top back up into place. Brainy slid away, his face red and embarrassed. "Am I…interrupting something?"

"No of course not." Brainy said trying to straighten his clothes. He stood up and hooked an arm around Keith's neck, leading him away from Carlson's room. "What did you need?"

Keith swallowed a lump in his throat. "Well…um…how is it that you can touch Eden?"

"Oh. Well it's a secret. And honestly I was lucky to live through it. Why do you ask?" Brainy answered.

Keith took a deep breath. "I want to do it."

Brainy paused and stared at Keith long and hard, "You heard the 'I was lucky to live through it' part, right?"

"I don't care." Keith answered.

**Hey readers! Just wanted to thank you all for sticking with the fic and giving me all your reviews. I probably wouldn't keep writing without them. I love you all! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think will happen or what you want to happen. See ya soon.**


	24. Chapter 24

Arnold gritted his teeth as he hit the mat for what must have been the hundredth time. And it wasn't even noon yet. His bruises had bruises. He didn't know how Carlson was still bouncing on the balls of her feet, her stature the same as it had been when they started sparring three hours ago. She constantly reminded him that she was going easy on him. The worst part was that he didn't doubt it.

Carlson crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Come on, Arnold, my gran can move faster than that. And she's been dead for six years."

"Don't you think you're being a little brutal?" Helga snarled defensively from the outside of the ring.

Carlson scowled down at Helga. "Fighting isn't for the meek of heart. If he can't handle this then he's going to be dead first."

"Who ever said that I wanted to fight?" Arnold scowled at her as he slowly got onto his feet.

"Oh I see." Carlson crossed her arms casually, her voice filled with scorn and sarcasm. "So you want to be the damsel in distress. We might need to get you a sex change, but other than that I think you'll fit the role very nicely."

"Can I at least have a break?" Arnold shouted.

Carlson rolled her eyes, "Fine fine, whatever. Eddy!"

Brainy looked up from one of his tablets, hard at work on something. "Yeah?"

She waved for him to come over, "You're up."

"Oh. In all fairness, Carlson, I'd rather not." He smiled as innocently as he could.

She pointed at a place on the floor in front of her, "NOW!"

Brainy's face faltered as he changed places with Arnold. "Good luck." Arnold said as they passed each other.

"I'm not going to need luck, what I'll need is a medic." Brainy whispered in return.

Arnold's brow furrowed. He was blissfully unaware of what had transpired between Brainy and Carlson last night.

Carlson rolled her head on her shoulders before popping her neck. Brainy swallowed a lump in his throat before timidly sinking into a fighting stance. "So are we going to talk about last night?"

"Nope." Carlson delivered a roundhouse kick to Brainy's head, sending him onto the mat.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Gerald, I really don't think going back into the ring with Carlson is a good idea." Phoebe chided.

Gerald ignored her, "I got my ass whooped by a girl, babe."

Helga, who was nibbling on a sandwich, nestled into the hook of Arnold's arm, perked up at this. "Excuse me? What's wrong with girls? I bet even Phoebe could kick your ass."

Gerald rolled his eyes, "Phoebe wouldn't ever try to kick my ass."

"She could if she wanted to." Helga taunted before taking a bite into her lunch.

Arnold shook his head, "Is it really necessary to egg him on, Helga?"

She shrugged, "Probably not, but it's fun. How're you holding up?"

He rolled his eyes, "Carlson says I have potential so she's pushing me harder than…I don't know, something you push."

Helga chuckled, "You have quite a way with words."

Arnold smirked and kissed her brow, "Can't be that bad. I mean, I've got you."

"Yeah well that's just because I have enough poetic creativity and brilliance for the both of us." She smiled teasingly. "It's just you're job to stand there and look pretty."

He rolled his eyes, "Well I at least hope I do a decent job of it."

She shrugged, "You could do better.

He scowled, "Hey!"

"Calm down, football head, I'm kidding. You're absolutely gorgeous, darling." Helga chuckled.

Phoebe overheard and giggled. "I haven't seen you two act this adorable together since that April Fool's dance in the fourth grade."

Helga perked up, "Yeah, now that you mention it there's a lot of water down here…Pheebs, don't forget to keep me from dancing with the football head while we're down here at all costs."

Phoebe giggled, "Remembering."

Arnold rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, Helga, you started it by pretending to be blind."

"Well you actually _had _blinded me so it served you right." Helga retorted.

"Oh to be young and stupid in love again." Eden chuckled as she entered the area they'd designated for eating.

Arnold cocked a brow at Eden. "You're still pretty young."

She smirked, "I was talking about the stupid part."

Keith entered behind her and jabbed a gloved finger against one of Eden's ticklish spots, making her squeal and jump away. "I dunno, E, you're still pretty stupid."

Without any warning, Eden slammed her fist into his shoulder. Keith tried to keep his composure, but in the end he whimpered and clutched his arm.

From the entry way, someone whistled loudly to get another's attention. There stood Carlson, her arms crossed over her chest and a bloody Brainy hovering behind her. Helga had to stifle a laugh. Carlson looked like she was ready to punch Brainy in the face. It most certainly brought back memories.

"Keith, you and me." Carlson snapped.

Keith looked shocked, "Me? Oh, um, thanks Carlson, but I don't think-"

"Now!" Carlson snapped before he could finish.

Keith jumped, nervously looking to each person, silentl asking for a way out. He got a few uncomfortable smirks, a shrug from Helga, and the others simply looked away. He sighed and followed her, unsure of exactly where she was taking him.

Brainy released the breath he hadn't known he was holding when they left. "I've never seen Carlson so mad before."

"Yeah, me either." Eden agreed. "Don't get me wrong, she always gets a little…intense when it comes to fighting and training, but she's pissed." She shook her head and crossed her arms. "From the looks of it, at you."

Brainy scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"What did you do?" Eden challenged, not convinced.

"_Nothing_." Brainy insisted.

Eden rolled her eyes, "I'm gunna find out sooner or later."

"No you won't." Brainy retorted shortly.

Eden grinned, "Ah! So you _did _piss her off?"

"Would you just drop it!" He exclaimed, slamming one of his fists onto a table.

Eden raised her hands and took a step back, "Calm down, Eddy. You don't have to tell me, which you obviously don't. However, it's quite obvious that you pissed her off so I recommend you take care of it."

"Is _that_ why she's been crazy?" Arnold exclaimed. "She was pushing me like crazy!"

"Yeah, fine I'll take care of it." Brainy replied shortly. "What do we have to eat?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Keith swallowed a lump in his throat nervously as he followed Carlson to an area of the sewers where they'd never been before. He took a deep breath, but not too deep. Every now and then an overpowering smell would remind everyone that they were in the sewers.

Finally, Carlson stopped. It wasn't a very big room, but it was clean. It didn't smell and there was very open, without anything obscuring the floor. He watched as Carlson sat upon the ground and yanked off one of her shoes. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "So um…what are we doing?"

"I figured out what Thaddeus is doing." she answered as she pulled off her second shoe. "And I know a way that we can get in, but I'm going to need your help."

Keith nodded, "Great. Um…what do you need me to do?"

She looked up at him and smirked before slipping on another pair of shoes, "I know, Keith."

He looked confused, "What?"

"Your frame is exquisite and the way you walk shows everything." she answered.

Keith realized what she was saying and his face turned red, "Well thank you, but what are you planning on doing? Just waltzing in there?"

Carlson smirked. "Tango, actually."

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to update (and that it's so short!) I still love you guys. We're drawing near to the end though. Not like really near but…nearer. Don't forget to review! Love ya. **


	25. Chapter 25

"Not bad, twinkle toes." Carlson said as Keith pulled her up out of a dip.

He smirked and playfully spun her outbefore pulling her back into him, "How exactly is this going to help?"

Carlson dropped onto the floor and began undoing the small buckle on her shoe, "You'll see. Just don't worry about it." She yanked off her shoe before patting the ground next to her, motioning for him to sit down. Keith anxiously looked at the exit before exhaling a sigh and sitting beside her.

For a few moments they said nothing and he awkwardly watched as she took off her ballroom shoes and exchanged them for the sneakers she had been wearing for sparring before.

Finally, Carlson glibly said, "I know what you wanted to talk to Eddy about last night."

Keith rubbed the back of his neck and tried to feign incomprehension. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Carlson cocked her head onto her shoulder and stared him down, a knowing smirk upon her face, "You're a terrible liar."

He swallowed a lump in his throat, "Eavesdropping?"

She shrugged, "It's the best way to gather info."

Keith sighed, "Alright so you know. So what?"

Carlson's playful smirk turned into a serious scowl, "You don't know what happened when Eddy got his immunity, do you?"

"I have a feeling that I will soon." Keith sighed, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on the door.

Carlson smacked him upside the head, pulling him out of his pouting. "What what that for?" Keith snarled, rubbing the back of his head.

Her brows shot up, "Keith, I was a shrink. I can read your body language like a book. You're going to fucking listen to this and you're gunna like it, you got it?"

He threw his hands up defensively, "Okay okay! What happened?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Eden sighed as she stared at the beakers and viles filled with plant extracts, powders, and whatever else could be found. Her fingers drummed against the counter. She could hear Thaddeus and Carlson going at it in the room above. She rolled her eyes when she heard Carlson scream dramatically before moaning loudly, followed by a loud thud. Probably Carlson getting slammed against a wall or something like that. Eden had had the awkward experience of walking in on them a few time, that and stories Carlson felt the need to share about how she 'liked it rough'. _

_She looked up lazily as the door to her lab entered and Eddy entered. She smiled at him weakly. He returned the gesture and sat on the stool next to her. "You're having the time of your life I see."_

_Eden scowled at the ceiling, "I can't get anything done with them making a racket like that." _

_Eddy shrugged casually and leaned against the counter, "What's so great about this stupid project anyway?"_

_In an instant, mossy green eyes became afire and bore down upon him ferociously. Eddy would have been more comfortable being circled by one of Carlson's hyenas, and most of them were still young and untrained. "What's so great about it is that I had a life before this mess fucked it up. I was _happy_. I had grants coming out of my ass! I was getting _married_! M_ay_be it's stupid but a part of me wants to believe that if I can fix this." She motioned at her green figure, "Then maybe I can get it back!" _

"_I'm sorry I didn't reali-" Eddy stopped speaking abruptly and cocked his head to the side curiously. "You were engaged?"_

_Eden picked up an empty beaker and threw it on the floor with unnecessary force, the glass shattering, "I don't want to talk about it, brain boy!"_

_Eddy backed away and put his hands up defensively, "Alright alright, I get it. I'm sorry." _

_Eden's scowl lingered on his face before she turned to aimlessly fiddle with a set of empty vials. "I think you should go." _

"_Fine, I'll go." Eddy snarled back. On his way for the door he picked up a glass of what looked like water. He raised it over his head, mocking a toasting position. "To the happy couple." _

_Eden turned to glare at him just in time to watch him raise the glass of what she knew was _not _water, "NO!" she screamed, but it was too late. _

_He smashed the glass onto the ground once he finished it, "Your water here tastes funny." He moved to take one step and his footing was lost. _

_She glared at him and rushed to his side, "That's not fucking water, you imbecilic man-twat!" Vines and branches started to snake around Eden, bringing her vials of this and that. "That was what I was developing for my universal _fucking _poison!" _

_Eddy then realized what she was saying and horror found his face, "Shouldn't you label that shit or something?"_

_Without thinking, Eden slapped him across the face, "Shouldn't you _not_ drink _any _liquid hanging around a lab the studies _poisons_! Aren't you supposed to be a super genius or some kind of shit because that was just fucking stupid!"_

_He scowled, "Point taken." _

_She ignored his last comment and proceeded to examine what the plants brought to her. She'd occasionally glance up to find him staring at her hard at work. His breathing was beginning to slow. Eddy drove her nuts and half the time she wanted to punch him in the face (she had a feeling that some other people often got that urge around him quite often). Still, while he was annoying, he was still a friend. _

_She mixed frantically and the longer she took the more he fades. Finally, she decided that she'd concocted something that would at least slow the poisoning, if not prove to it its antidote. He stared at her with glossy eyes, breathing heavily and she fought the urge to cover his mouth and force him to breathe through his nose. She carefully wedged the vile into his mouth and made him swallow it. _

_Everything stopped. Seconds turned into hours and minutes into days. He released one last shaky breath. _

_Eden took a deep breath and fought the tears back. She never imagined she'd actually care about him enough. Angry, mostly at her self, she ungloved one of her hands and slapped him hard across the face right before screaming, "You cunt wagon!"_

_Eddy yelped and put a hand on his cheek. Eden, in return, screamed loudly and scrambled away from him, "What the fuck!" _

"_You hit me!" Eddy snapped, pointing a long and skinny finger in her direction. _

"_You-" Eden stopped before she could get much of a retort out. "Oh god, I killed you!"_

_Eddy's eyes narrowed in question, "I feel just fine." _

_Eden looked more confused, if it was possible, "You don't feel light headed? Nasueus? Dizzy?" _

_Eddy had answered no to each question. Eden started at him, then to the clock in disbelief. He was still alive. But how? They'd had skin on skin contact! She came forward quickly and despite his efforts to keep her bare skin away, she managed to get a bare palm on his forehead. _

_Once again, he didn't die. _

_Eden pulled away from him and to his surprise, she found a place under her tables where she curled up on her side and fought the tears away. Eddy followed cautiously before placing a cautious hand on her bare shoulder, "Are you ok?" He asked at last._

_She shook her head. "This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen." Despite how little he knew about her, he knew that asking further questions would just upset her more. He rubbed her back and stood by as she cried. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Eden." Brainy said enthusiastically once he saw Eden approaching him. "Look at what I found! If you just-"

Brainy didn't' had the chance to ready himself when Eden's fist reeled back and she clocked him straight on the jaw, sending him onto the ground. Helga and Arnold looked at them in disbelief. Gerald had been asleep on the couch through the whole thing and even Phoebe stared by, her irate wedding planner still screaming from the other end of the line.

"Eden! What the hell was that for?" He exclaimed, dabbing his lip to see how much blood she'd ushered through his skin. It was more than he had expected.

He she scowled at him and walked into her room, sealing the exit with a thick varity of vines and branches. He stared after her dumbfounded, before staring back at Helga. Arnold, and Phoebe, his eyes pleading desperately, "What the hell did you do that for?"

Helga shook her head, "You seriously need to stop pissing off the girls who can kick your ass."

**Hey everyone! Sorry this update took a while and isn't very long. Hope it hold you over for a little bit though. Don't forget to review!**


	26. Chapter 26

"Hey everyone, I need to talk to-" Carlson paused once she noticed the mass of greenery blocking off the enterence to Eden's room. "Ok…why is Eden all locked up?"

Helga shrugged and jutted her thumb over her shoulder in Brainy's direction, "She came out of nowhere and punched him in the face before locking herself up."

Brainy's eyes narrowed at Helga, "Thanks for the story, Helga."

Helga only shrugged again, "Don't mention it."

Carlson's eyes narrowed at Brainy and she crossed her arms. She was still angry with him concerning what had transpired the night before, "What the fuck did you do to Eden now?"

Gerald arched a brow at her sudden change in mood, "I'm more concerned about what the fuck he did to you."

Phoebe nodded, "I'm afraid I have to concur. You've been acting unusually hostile towards Brainy today."

Carlson's hands balled into fists and she gritted her teeth, "I am _not_ hostile."

Keith cocked a brow and moved to look at her face, "Are you sure? You look pretty hostile."

Without a word, Carlson punched him in the shoulder. Keith tried to keep his footing and composure, but he released and agonized groan and grasped his arm. She stormed through the group to Eden's barricade and shook one of the branches violently, "E! Let me in so I can get away from these freaks!"

The blockade of greenery parted, revealing an equally angry Eden. "Fuck off, Carlson!" Eden bellowed before closing herself off again.

Carlson's mouth fell open in shock. "WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO YOU?" With an annoyed screech, Carlson stomped her foot dramatically and stormed off to her bedroom.

Helga laughed, "Wow that was really dramatic. Seriously, Brainy, what the hell did you do to those two?"

Brainy scowled, "I didn't do anything to Eden."

"I believe Helga was referring to Carlson as well." Phoebe urged him quietly.

"Carlson is being a melodramatic fucking twit!" Brainy finally bellowed.

"I FUCKING HEARD THAT!" Carlson's faint voice could be heard yelling from her room.

"GOOD! I FUCKING HOPE YOU HEARD THAT!" Brainy screamed in her direction.

"FUCK YOU!" Carlson retorted.

Arnold brought his hands to his head and began rubbing his temples, "Oh my god this is insanity."

Helga nodded, "Tell me about it. I haven't heard the word 'fuck' tossed around so much in my entire life."

"Oh no." Gerald said shaking his head, "Man please tell me you aren't thinking it?"

Arnold gave Gerald a curious look. "Thinking what?"

"That they should talk about it." Gerald answered, "I mean the three of them are at each other's throats. It's like saying you should try and setting an argument between a dolphin," Gerald gestured towards Brainy, "A king cobra," He gestured towards where Eden had locked herself away, " and a wolverine!" He gestured towards where Carlson had run off.

Brainy rolled his eyes and shook his head, "I'm still here and I can still hear you. And what makes me a dolphin?"

Gerald shrugged, "Dolphins are smart…right?"

Arnold rolled his eyes, "I'm gunna go and talk to Carlson."

Helga gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."

Arnold winced, but realized her needed all the help he could get, "Thanks."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Arnold watched cautiously from the doorway as Carlson strung arrow after arrow upon her bow, all of them settling neatly into the center of her target. The target wasn't far so it wasn't much of a challenge, but she was firing arrows to blow off steam, not for target practice.

"What do you want?" She asked calmly as she fired another arrow.

Arnold swallowed a lump in his throat, "Can I come in?"

"Whatever floats your boat?" Came the cool answer as she fired another arrow.

"You promise not to shoot me with that thing?" He asked as he slipped into the room.

The ghost of a smile found her lips, "No, I won't shoot you. You haven't pissed me off."

Arnold moved slowly to sit behind her, watching her fire another arrow into her target.

A thick silence filled the room before Carlson finally asked, "Are you enjoying the view back there?"

Arnold's cheeks turned red, "What? No- no, that's not-"

Carlson lowered her bow and turned to face him, "Are you saying I _don't _have a nice ass?"

"No, no you have a lovely…that's not…I mean." Arnold fumbled over his words, his face burning and his eyes fixed on the ground.

Carlson laughed full heartedly. "Calm down, Arnold, I'm just kidding. God, you're acting like I'm mad at you."

"Well you're pretty mad at Brainy." He said carefully.

Her smile was instantly replaced by a scowl, "Well in all fairness he deserves it. I don't lash out at people who don't deserve it. It took a lot of practice, but I've managed to keep it down."

"You wanna talk about it?" Arnold offered.

Carlson bit her lip and shook her head, "No. Not really."

"You really should. I'm sure you'll feel better about it." Arnold gently urged her.

Carlson crossed her arms over her chest and scrutinized him, "Promise not to judge?"

Arnold placed one hand on his heart and the other in the air, "As I live and breath. Besides, I'd be too afraid of you killing me."

That managed to get a smile out of her, "Alright, fine. I'll tell you."

"Wait!" Arnold exclaimed before she could begin. Carlson watched confusedly as he pulled his plan chair next to her cot. She didn't argue or fight him when he pushed her onto the bed and pulled her legs onto the bed. Before he sat down, he found one of her notebooks and a pencil, opened it to a blank page.

When he sat down and asked her to tell her what had happened, Carlson realized what he was doing and began laughing hysterically. He glared at her sternly and told her to start again. Once she stopped laughing she did.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Alright everyone needs to stop acting so childish so that we can have this…" Arnold paused and looked at Carlson, who shrugged. "Meeting." he finally said.

Eden pouted and glared at the wall. It was hard to see who she was more angry with, Carlson or Brainy. Brainy looked annoyed. Everyone else just looked uncomfortable.

"Thanks Arnold." Carlson said, stepping around him in front of the imaged projected onto the wall behind her. "Eddy, can you hit the lights?" Amazingly, there was no malice and anger in her voice. It seemed that her talk with Arnold's talk with her had worked wonders.

Still, Eddy was just as angry as she had been. "Going to kick my ass if I don't?"

Helga slapped the back of his head loudly, "Do you seriously want to piss her off again?"

Muttering under his breath, Brainy obeyed, sulking at the wall.

Carlson ignored him and changed the image on the display, "Alright everyone, so _this _is Teog. They're a health food company owned by the Lloyd family."

Helga was suddenly on the edge of her seat, "That's where I was sent where I died."

"Great! So you might know what's going on in there better than I do?" Carlson exclaimed.

Helga bit her lip and rubbed the back of her neck, "Actually…I don't remember hardly anything from my first death. I don't remember a lot from my second either. My brain gets all fuzzy and things just…go. Sorry."

Carlson shrugged, "It's ok. I don't know exactly what he has planned there, _but _I do know when." She changed the display to an invitation for a party in the company's ballroom.

Brainy let his anger mellow for long enough to stare at the picture, contemplating it, "Curly did always like to make a bang. But Lloyd functions are almost impossible to get into. How exactly are we going to do that?"

Carlson grinned proudly, "Keith actually helped me out with that." She held out a pile of papers to Phoebe, who passed them around. "We have been hired as dancers. Keith and I came up with six routines today and we'll all have a week to get them down."

Eden looked up at Carlson and blinked, "You were…choreographing? All that time you were gone, I mean."

Carlson smirked, "Yeah. I mean what else would we be doing? I'd love to pair you up with Keith 'cause I think you two would have ex_plosive_ chemistry, but some of them are a little…" she struggled to find the right word.

"Racy?" Keith recommended.

"Yeah, that's a good one. Anyway, we figured it would be better to be safe than sorry so you're going to be with Eddy. Everyone else kind of already picked their own partners." Carlson shrugged.

Helga turned to Arnold and glared at him, "You throw me in water again and I will kill you."

"So we crash this party." Gerald said, looking bored. "What then?"

"Then we wait until Thaddeus crashes the party." Keith began, looking excited, since he already knew the plan.

"Then we crash him." Carlson dramatically finished, punching her open palm.

**Sorry the last two chapters have been…anticlimactic. Next chapter is the beginning of the party though so it's gunna be fun. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think! Love you all!**


	27. Chapter 27

"So tomorrow's the big day." Arnold said awkwardly as he slid into bed, wincing slightly at the dull ache in his muscles. The soreness would be gone by tomorrow, thank god. Calrson had said that it would be ideal if they didn't have to perform at all, but she'd given them routines as a precautionary measure. Arnold wasn't sure if his body could take it anymore. There was a tango, a samba, a cha-cha, a waltz, a rumba, _and _a jive. Carlson and Keith had always made the routines look like more fun than work. However, when it came down to it, there was always something that needed to be remedied. There was the way the shoulders were held, the angle of a kick, all combined with tricks and lifts.

Arnold was just glad that he and Helga had managed to get Carlson's 'dancer's seal of approval'. The only ones who hadn't been given permission to turn in for the night were Gerald and Brainy. They were still in Carlson's reserved dancing area. Arnold didn't envy them. It was clear that even though Carlson acted energetic and still did all the steps flawlessly, she was tired. In being tired, she was cranky.

Helga yawned and climbed into bed next to him, snuggling into his chest and closing her eyes before Arnold even had the chance to settle into his pillow. "I'm just glad that there aren't going to be dancing lessons after tomorrow."

Arnold smiled and nestled into his pillow, gently rubbing up and down Helga's arm. "I really wish you didn't want to do this." He admitted.

Helga released a sigh and sat up to look him in the face, "Arnold, we already discussed this."

Arnold bit his lip and looked down. Helga was right. The entire group had held a meeting declaring that anyone who didn't want to go on the mission wasn't obligated. Helga had agreed to go regardless. Her reasons were different that Carlson's and Eden's. She had no personal quarrel with Curly. Part of her wanted vengeance for her first (and second) murders. The other part knew that innocent people would get hurt without her there. Helga wasn't going to stand for that. Arnold had agreed to stay with the group for Helga. She most certainly didn't need protecting, but he wasn't going to let the woman he loves walk into such a dangerous situation without him. "I know we did. I just." He paused, unsure how to put words to his thoughts.

She kissed his lips gently, pulling him back into the real world. "Everything is going to be fine, football head."

He smiled down at her and held her tightly, "It had better be."

Helga smiled and relaxed in his embrace. Not long after, they were asleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh daddy it's perfect!" Rhonda exclaimed as she and Harold entered Teog.

Mr. Lloyd beamed, clearly proud of himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked over the room one more time. "Only the best for my pumpkin. I'm especially looking forward to your surprise announcment." he gently pinched his daughter's cheek.

Rhonda grinned up at her husband, who smiled back, taking her hand into his. "Trust me, daddy, we are too. Harold and I are just going to look at the view from above if that's alright."

Rhonda's father nodded, "Anything you want, princess."

Harold looked over his shoulder as he and his wife climbed the steps, "Are you sure that announcing this tonight is such a good idea?"

Rhonad smiled and softly kissed Harold's cheek, "You worry too much, Harold."she chided gently.

"Well it hasn't been that long since your parents decided to stop hating me." Harold proceeded. "What if-"

A finger fell upon Harold's lips, silencing him, "Harold, we've been married for two years. Us having a baby is unexpected, but we're ready for it. That's all that matters. Besides, mummy and daddy will be _thrilled _to find out that they're going to be grandparents."

Harold sighed, "I hope so."

With a mischievous smile Rhonda asked, "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

Harold raised a brow at this, "Huh?"

"The baby, Harold." Rhonda informed him gently.

"Oh." Harold said a little too quickly, "Well I won't care so long as they're healthy and happy."

Rhonda smiled, "I love you, Harold."

He smiled back and leaned in to gently kiss her, "I love you too, Rhonda."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh good, you're here." Rhonda said shortly. "We don't need any entertainment yet so just…wander around and try to blend in." Rhonda noticed something behind the group of dancers, "What the hell is that? I didn't ask for escargot! Get that out of my sight!"

Her husband shook his head and rolled his eyes before looking back at the dancers, "Sorry, she gets a little stressed when she's planning. You can go on in."

Helga glanced at Carlson, "Good job, blondie. Looks like no one recognized us."

"Yeah let's just try to keep it that way." Eden replied, subtly taking another shot of the substance that neutralized her appearance.

"We should split up." Carlson recommended as the entire the ballroom, which was beginning to overflow with people. "That way we won't attract so much attention. Meet under the chandler in twenty minutes?"

Everyone agreed in a wave of murmurs and nods.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carlson hardly made it to the edge of the ballroom before her mouth was covered and she was dragged into a dingy and blank room a few feet away from the ballroom. Whoever had her most certainly had the advantage. They were bigger and stronger, but that didn't always mean they would win.

Once they'd closed the door behind them she slipped out of their arms before effortlessly sliding between their legs and planting a hard kick in their kidney.

They didn't flinch, but instead they caught her leg before she could retract it and spun around to face her.

"It's nice to see you too." Bruce stated coldly.

Her eyes went wide and she glared at him before yanking hard on her leg in an attempt to make him release her. She was no match for him, even she knew well enough to admit this.

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Stop fidgeting and I'll let you go. I don't want you flying into the wall."

Carlson released a sigh and obeyed. Once both her feet were on the ground, he wheeled her towards the window, "You've got to get out of here. Now."

Carlson perked up, "What?" She dug her heels into the ground, but that didn't do much to stop him. "No, Bruce, I'm not leaving."

Bruce spun her around and he glared at her sternly, "Listen to me, Carlson. What's going on here is big. People. Are. Going. To. Die."

She shook his hands off her shoulders and glared right back at him, "Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking idiot, Bruce."

His face softened, "You're not a fucking idiot, Carlson."

"I know!" She snapped. "I don't expect you to understand, but I have to do this. I can't run away."

"Well I don't expect _you _to understand, but _I _have to do _this_." Bruce retorted as he picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. "I will _not _fight against you, Carlson."

Carlson forced herself off his shoulder and placed her face inches from his, "Then fight _with _me. You don't owe him anything!"

Bruce looked down, "It's more complicated than that."

"Well so is my situation." she snapped.

His hold on her tightened and her heart started racing. She knew she had no reason to be, but she was afraid.

Or…maybe she did have a reason to be.

Before she could further contemplate her fear, Bruce planted a kiss upon her lips. Carlson sharply took a breath of air. Bruce had never kissed her before. They'd talked and cuddled, but _never_ had he been bold enough to kiss her. A moan rose from her throat as her arms snaked around his neck. She could hardly breath with as tight as he was holding her, but she didn't care.

By the time he had pulled away, she was still hungry for more. He smiled weakly at her and caressed her cheek. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves, "You have to stay away from me tonight."

Carlson's dazed and dreamy expression was immediately gone, "What? Why?"

"If I hurt you I'll never forgive myself." He kissed her once more, quickly and gently, "Be careful and be safe."

Unsure of what else to say, she nodded.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Bruce turned and rushed out of the room.

Carlson took a few deep breaths to prepare herself for the rest of the night. Still, that didn't stop her from curling up on the floor and weeping. The worst part was, she didn't even know why.

**Hey everyone! I'm back! So I just figured I'd let you guys know that this party is gunna be pretty long so…yeah. Anyway, this is just the beginning. It's gunna get a lot more insane, I promise. Don't forget to review! Love you all, dear friends!**


	28. Chapter 28

"Carlson told me." Eden said lowly as she and Keith wandered through the crowd. Eden was suddenly very aware and very thankful that the costumes covered up most of her skin.

Keith glanced at her before returning to his task of navigating the crowd. "What're you talking about?"

"I won't let you do it." she retorted coldly.

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about." Keith insisted.

"The forumla is unstable. I'm not even really sure how I managed to save Eddy, it was all a happy accident." She continued.

Keith's eyes narrowed and his tone became passive aggressive, "Yeah, very happy I'm sure."

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Eden snapped.

"You should have told me." He snarled. "We were getting married in three weeks."

Her jaw went slack, "You are not really trying to have _this _conversation with me _now _are you?"

He shrugged, "It's now or never."

Eden's hands became fists and her cheeks became red, "You have had _days _to confront me about this and _now_ is the perfect time in your eyes? _NOW?_"

Keith glared at her, "Keep your voice down, you're drawing attention to yourself."

Her nose crinkled and her cheeks turned red, a sure fire sign of her anger, but she managed to lower her voice, "You're opening cans of worms that should have been open way before tonight."

"Yes, because it would have been easy for me to just up and say 'Eden, I still love you. I hate that you left just to become fuck buddies with that stupid stuck up jerk and the pathetic part is that if you asked if we could set a date again I wouldn't even hesitate to say yes.'"

Eden's mouth fell open. "Is _that _what you think my relationship with Eddy is? Fuck buddies?"

Keith crossed his arms and glared at the ground, settling to lean against the wall. "You certainly seemed to enjoy him."

Eden couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you talking about back at my old lab?"

He shrugged casually, "He seemed to know all the places that satisfy you."

Eden's shock was slowly becoming full blown anger. "Alright you listen her, shit for brains, there is nothing but friendship between Eddy and me. And secondly, do you have any _idea_ how long it had been for me since before that all of this started going insane?"

"Humor me." Keith challenged.

"It was with you!" she sneered. "You know that the only way I can…well…you know I can't fucking pleasure myself!" She had said the last bit a little too loudly and the few stares she attracted managed to get her to lower her voice. "I was sexually frustrated so _excuse _me for having a little romp and enjoying it. When was the last time you had sex? Or even masturbated? I don't give a fuck."

Keith swallowed a lump in his throat and his gaze found the floor. "That's not the same."

Her mouth fell open. After a moment of silence between them her voice became low and serious. "When was the last time you had sex Keith."

"Er noth eo." He muttered.

Her eyes narrowed. "Out loud, you twat."

"A month ago." He mumbled.

Eden's mouth fell open before a strangled laugh managed to escape from her mouth. "I cannot believe you."

"I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed.

"I was!" she almost shouted back. "And now thanks to you I am again."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He demanded, pulling her into an empty room away from prying eyes.

She yanked her hand out of his as he shut the door behind her. "You have the _gall_ to make _me _feel guilty for something that you did yourself!"

"It was different for me!" Keith argued.

"How?" Eden demanded, "Because you have a cock and only men are allowed to have a motherfucking libido?"

"So you're mad at me because I've had sex with other women? None of them even meant anything to me!"

"So you whoring around is supposed to make me feel better?"

"I was a wreck! No one could replace you and I knew it!" Keith replied desperately.

Eden turned her back on him, unable to bare the sight of him any longer, "Ya know, I don't care if you've fucked hundreds of women-"

"It wasn't _hundreds_. It was just over fifty." Keith winced once the words were out of his mouth, knowing that they were doing nothing to help him win the argument.

Eden's jaw practically hit the floor and she spun around to face him again. "Fifty? Over _fifty_!"

"I was trying to move on." He growled.

She rolled her eyes, "Look, you're a fucking slut now, I get that. That's not the fucking point. The point is that _you're _giving me shit for something that _you _also did, but twenty-five times worse!"

"Twenty-five?" Keith cocked his head at the number.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH!"

Keith fell silent and his gaze fell upon the ground.

"You're acting like I didn't want to tell you. Like I didn't want to just cry in your arms for _weeks._ Like hopefully going back to you wasn't the only reason I kept working on these stupid serems to try and make myself normal again? What the fuck was I supposed to say? 'Honey! I'm home! Also I just had an accident at the lab and it turns out that just touching my skin is totally fatal. Also I'm fucking green now so I guess we have to cancel the wedding. And we can never have kids because my fucking vagina would poison your sperm before it had a chance to get anywhere.' Yeah, Keith, because you would have responded well to that."

"At least I still would have had you! I could have helped you!" Keith screamed, "I love you, Eden, is that so wrong?"

"Are we interrupting something?"

Keith and Eden looked over in time to see Arnold, Brainy, and Helga standing in the doorway looking confused. Eden wiped her eyes were tears were starting to water. "We're fine. What's going on?"

Helga frowned, but decided to not press the issue. "We were looking for Carlson and wondered if you guys had seen her."

"No we haven't seen her." Keith replied coolly.

"We should keep looking." Eden added quickly. "Helga, you come with me?"

Helga managed a weak smile, "Sure."

**Hey guys. Sorry it took so long for an update and that it's mostly Keith and Eden drama and not very long. Sorry. I've had a lot of crap on my plate lately so I finally got around to getting a chapter up. Again, I'm sorry it took so long. Don't forget to review and stuff. **


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